Holiday happiness

I am so happy to have my daughters and their families here for Thanksgiving. The boys are delightful, fun and funny. We all enjoyed our turkey dinner and the cooler weather.

Thanksgiving 2008

We have had a very nice Thanksgiving day with both daughters and their families. The kids are cute and fun. Dinner was good and the camera needs me to be of more use now that the festivities have calmed down. I hope all my friends and family are healthy and happy on this holiday.

A lasting gift

I am so thankful that I can take these

and create these. Which are the altar flowers I made for church last Sunday. About 12 years ago when I joined the Episcopal church, I met a wonderful woman named Nancy Brown. Nancy had moved to Arizona from Connecticut where she had been involved in garden clubs and had many sorts of gardening and flower arranging titles. She asked our then priest if she could arrange the altar flowers on occasion. Her arrangements were always very impressive and far and away more spectacular than those from the florist. She began doing it more frequently. The head of our Altar Guild asked if she would have a little class and teach us a few basics so perhaps others of us could "do" the flowers. This turned into a full blown Flower Guild. As Nancy's pledge to the church twice a week she would bring 3 or 4 floral buckets of gorgeous flowers and under her tutelage we would each make an arrangement which was ours to take home. One member would make the altar flowers each Friday. On occasion Nancy would have the meetings at her beautiful home and sometimes a little party or lunch. We became a support group for each other in addition. Nancy was a very special and spiritual person. After about 5 years she moved to Tucson and alas died a couple of years ago of a recurrence of cancer. Nancy gave us an incredible gift which we can continue to share with others. In Nancy's memory I try to have fresh flowers in my home as often as possible. Her spirit will always live on in my heart.

Thanksgiving 1990

Here are my sweet daughters with their dad and Aunt Beth during the year of the Sasoonish haircuts. I believe this was the Thanksgiving when I worked all day at the hospital and came home suffering a raging case of food poisoning. My gratitude on this holiday was that I was still alive the next morning.

3 gen.

This is a picture that was taken in Illinois on a summer trip when I was about the age Becky is now and my mom was about the age I am now. It's a little humorous that I felt so old then and not so old now. My mom is always thought to be about 10 or 15 years younger than actually she is. I hope I was blessed with those genes. Strangely enough, Becky's and my front teeth have grown closer together without orthodontia. Mine not so much as Becky's which are nearly perfect. A nostalgia feeling day for me this is.

My doogies

Sadie and Jake
Jake and Sadie
He's a scamp
And she's a lady

The object of my affection

This tiny little red jewel about the size of a deck of cards has given me hours of pleasure so far. Well worth it's $129 price tag. I actually expected to spend much more and am amazed by what this little camera can do. In my whole 61 year life I have taken few pictures and only a minuscule number that I would actually let anyone see. It's just increbile to me how you can have instant access and editing with these. Last night while discovering how to eliminate the flash, I took these shots of a floral arrangement with different lighting options. The middle shot is far and away the most pleasing though my camera has been set at a constant setting for the first option. I am beginning to realize why I am so often disappointed with my photos. I am starting to fear I have found my passion. Bring me some gorgeous children. I should have the best Christmas letter ever!

'tis the season

Christmas used to be my favorite holiday. Anymore I start to feel a little depressed as the holidays roll around and another year draws to a close. In spite of that I can't help feel a little burst of "exhilaration" when the red and tan elves have stocked their shelves up at my neighborhood Target. Target is practically the only store where I feel you can purchase some decent quality merchandise without breaking the bank. Every year the Archer Farms label has a few new varieties they introduce at the holidays.

And there are always some bright and shiny trays and colorful dishes to browse.

I only feel slight guilt allowing myself a couple of magazines. I will look at them every night and possibly try out a recipe or 2.

This was my little treat to myself this afternoon. The chutney and the relish will be used to liven up the boneless, skinless chicken breasts we have at least once a week, and the peppermint bark is simply a sinful pleasure. This year they made it in irresistible dark chocolate.

Precious possessions

Two pieces of writing that are very dear to me were written by my daughter and my sister when each of them was approximately the same age. Mandy placed her order for a "Chines" lunch. The only thing I ever thought might be Chines about it was perhaps the Miraclew Whip.

This was a letter from my baby sister. I had been married for a year, must have been living in Florida where Den was training in the OV-10. Melissa's mink was one of those stoles where each mink was biting the tail of the one in front of it and was given to her by a friend of our aunt.

Oh, darn

An annoying habit I have is writing down phone numbers in a hurry and making no note of who might be reached if I actually called them. When I find the numbers on various pads, cards, and bookmarks, they always look important and I'm sure I would have wanted to save them but oh, darn- who knows what delight or disappointment might be waiting at the other end of the telephone line.

A dear family

On my way home this afternoon I stopped off to try my hand at a little people picture taking. This sweet little girl is our great-niece Keira and her mama and daddy, Ginny and Darin. Trying to capture a swiftly moving child with that lag time was a challenge. I took Becky's advice to take 20 shots and maybe have a couple of good ones and I like these.

Good time Friday

Last week while on an outing with my friend Linda, I ordered a headboard for our guest bedroom from Crate and Barrel. Then I was informed it had to be picked up at the warehouse which is way down south of the airport. Was dreading the trip until I called my friend Ginny to join me. We made a day of it. Went to IKEA where I bought a square ice cube tray that makes long tubes of ice which may or may not be useful for water bottles.

Then we had an adventure at Ranch Market. This is Ginny inside Tradiciones restaurant where we consumed with appreciation

these lunches.

And then had a good time picking out delightful Mexican food items in the market. But I have to say that strawberry horchata was disgusting! Thanks, Ginny for a fun day!

More favorite things

This is one of my very favorite destinations, what I still refer to as the "new" library. This building is of very unique construction that people seem either to love or hate. I am one of its admirers. It is built with lots of infrastructure materials being used as finishing goods. It has lots of skylights and always feels kind of cheery. One of my favorite features is a little nook of used books for sale just inside the entrance. I feel a little virtuous about recycling all my books and magazines here. Reading is my absolute most favorite activity ever. I usually have 6 or 8 things going at once. I read most any and all type of fiction and non-fiction. At the present time I am reading some Madeleine L'Engle, Joan Medlicott, Michael Connelly and David Sedaris. Also an Alexandra Stoddard and a meditation book. I hope I will always be able to read.

What I do on Wednesdays

Every Wednesday morning I attend a class called Education for Ministry. It is a 4 year course about the history of religion meant to help you find your niche for doing something worthwhile in the world. There are 12 people in the class and we have been meeting in various members homes. Some of us don't really have the space for 12 people to spread out.

Today we met at this house which is Spanish colonial in design and decor. I could be a little envious of the kitchen island and the gourmet gas range.

Sometimes I am so intent looking around that I lose track of the class a little bit. There are also incredible views out the back windows.

Mainly a test

Tonight I went to Linda's to learn some computer things. We signed me up for the messaging thing on g-mail and I have done a number on my blog access. Trying to straighten it all out. This is the picture I used to create a collage birthday card for my sister. She is a newborn here and I am 6 years old. Our dad is 34. He was a great dad!

Veteran's Day

My gratitude to all who have served and are presently serving our country to preserve our freedom. I give thanks for my personal favorite in-house veteran. This is him with one of his favorite flying machines, the T-38 shortly before I hooked up with him for 18 years of being a D/W.