Embrace The Suck

"We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and  powerful selves  to be deeply seen  and known,  and when we honor the spiritual connection  that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection." Brene Brown ChicaPeeps.com     is a place where women share their stories of the special bond girlfriends create. Where women can gain strength and support from each other. A  couple days ago Chica Peeps founder, Veyla Jancz-Urban asked  me to be their guest blogger. I  have to say I felt pretty darn special.  It didn't take long, however, for the negative voices in my head to begin their chatter.  "Who do you think you are?" came through loud and clear. But then I thought about the Brene Brown interview I'd heard on NPR last Sunday. I decided to feel my vulnerability and write anyway. Who do I think I am? I'm a woman with a story to tell. And you know what, that's enough.  It helped ...

(drum roll please) Sweetie's granddaughter pulled Nightbyrd's name out of the proverbial hat. Actually it was my mom's cast aluminum dutch oven. I used it the other day to make soup in and have kept it out. It's odd, but it has made me feel my mother's spirit close to me. Go figure. Thanks to all of you who donated, spread the word around your blogs and FB pages. I'm grateful to be reminded of all the big hearted people in the world. I've put most of my fabric back in the closet. During my latest sewing blitz I've learned that it is fun to pull it all out again. I think my next quilt will be one for Malala. It will also be a donation quilt. Keep posted for more information after the first of the year. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. May your dreams be full of plenty. Merry ME

... I'll be drawing a winner's name for the quilt giveaway. You've still got time. I won't be picking until after the last piece of pie has been consumed and all of us are lying on the couch swearing that we'll never eat again.  So if you want to get your name in, see the post below - Every Little Bit Helps. Make a donation to a charity that will help in Hurricane Sandy relief. It doesn't have to be the Red Cross or Salvation Army. Though they are great charities that do good work. Give to the place that speaks to you -  a food pantry, the ASPCA, libraries. Then let me know by putting your name and charity in the comment section. I'll post the winner before I fall into bed with a tryptophan hangover.  ____ Today is also the day for giving heartfelt thanks for all our blessings. Lately I've been reminded that blessings can often be found in the middle of chaos, turmoil, and even pain. Hard to believe, isn't it? A couple years ago I was brows...

UPDATE:  I'll be picking a winner on Thanksgiving Day. So make a donation and leave your name in the comment section below.  ME UPDATE:  I see a tiny problem but it should be easy to fix. Commenting anonymously doesn't get your name in the drawing. And there's no way to tell Anonymous A from Anonymous B. Are you different or the same? I need to be able to get back in touch with you somehow. We can exchange email addy's later. But please at least leave your name. If you still comment as Anonymous, just say your name in the comment.  You can use first name and last initial. Or last name alone. Or an Alias. Just so I can get your name in the hat. And really, thank you. Thank you again and again. Merry ME _____ I always breathe a sigh of relief when a storm veers away from Jacksonville.  At the same time it's hard not to feel guilty that it went somewhere else.  I was in no way prepared for Hurricane Sandy. Like a lot of others, I felt like the...

"We know that a peaceful world cannot long exist, one-third rich and two-thirds hungry." Jimmy Carter A couple years after I moved back to Jacksonville, I heard an advertisement for an Empty Bowl Luncheon held to raise money and awareness for the Second Harvest Food Bank here in NE Florida. The idea is simple. School kids make bowls in art class and donate them. People who attend the luncheon get to pick out a bowl. The meal - a bowl of soup, some bread and some fruit -is meant to remind attendees about the growing number of people for whom a bowl of soup is a blessing. The Empty Bowls Luncheon is always held right before Thanksgiving. Another reminder that  the time for gratefulness should not just one day a year. For those who are hungry, every day they have food is reason for gratitude. Until today I've never been to the luncheon.  I was reminded by my blog friend and bowl maker Illuminary a few weeks ago that it was that time of year again. Her kiln has be...

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."   Anne Frank I just want to say thank you to all my friends who have been spreading the word about my quilt giveaway.  And to those who have already donated and commented on the post below.  When I decided to give the quilt away to people who donate to a charity that will help victims of Hurricane Sandy, I did not expect to feel much more than the satisfaction of doing "something." What I'm discovering is that the ripples from that small "something" are spreading much farther than I ever dared to dream. And filling my heart way more than I expected.   There's not much I like better than curling up under a quilt stitched with love by an ancestor. When I was a kid and too sick to go to school my mom would open out the sofa bed in the den, cover me with Grandmothers red and white Lone Star quilt and fix me Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.  ...

It's a quiet Friday evening. I'm messing on the computer. Sweetie is in the back reading. He casually walks through the room to tell me a story about how Girl Cat has been in the bathroom staring into a corner. Sitting as still as only a cat on the prowl can. Me: (Thinking to myself) I wonder if she's sick. Sweetie: She's cornered a mouse. I saw it run under the door. Me: Good God. Where is it now? Sweetie: I don't know. Me: (Jumping up and heading to the bedroom for a first hand look) You don't know? How the hell can you not know? Two big people and 2 small cats begin the search. The medium-sized dog with the blood of hounds running through her veins; the dog who walks around the block with her nose to the ground as if looking for kidnapped child; the dog, who can sleep through anything until the car keys tinkle, slumbered. Sweetie: (Turning his chair upside down) Not here. Me:  ( Opening the closet door. ) Not here, either. I prayed that the cre...