Random Thoughts

Perhaps the only thing better than an actual quilt that you can curl up under would be a picture of a quilt that you can curl up under, or see close up. Perhaps the only thing better than a pictures of a quilt would be a whole book of pictures. Even better than that would be receiving that book via snail mail from an Internet friend you've never met, but thought of you because she knows the subject hits very close to home. Many thanks to Diane Auser Stefan from Arkansas for knowing how much this book would mean to me. Alzheimer's Forgetting Piece by Piece is a collection of pictures and stories by 54 quilt makers who have been affected by the ALZ. The quilts were originally made for a traveling exhibit to "draw us close to a difficult subject so we can understand, become more compassionate and ultimately use our own talents to effect change."* "The idea for what would become the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative," writes, Ami Simms, founder of A...

I'm writing today from my bedroom which is my post-surgery communication desk. An icepack is my new best friend. The site of my incision is beginning to itch, which I assume means the healing is well underway. I have a tad of improvement in my toes, but they still don't work quite the way they are supposed to. I still stumble a bit. (Think Weebles wobble but they don't fall down!) But the good news is, this morning I found myself scurrying around. I know it sounds weird. I mean how often does on e scurry? One of the things I noticed about my drop foot situation was not only my inability to walk, but to walk with any kind of speed. Forget running. As in running into the store to pick up one item in the back corner while your Sweetie waits in the car when it's 116 degrees outside. I just couldn't do it. I had to amble along while Sweetie sat in the slow cooker. I can't say I "ran" around the house today, but I believe I moved faster than a normal wal...

"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.  ...

Note: I'm home now, sitting in my own chair, the dog at my feet, a cat at my shoulder. The air conditioner hums, a motorcylce varooms in the distance. I can see a slight breeze moving the plants around. I already miss the mountain views, but settling into the delightfulness of home. me After coming down the mountain from Tellico Plains, we stopped at Hardee's to get some quick food because my sister had to go to work.  If I haven't said it before now, it is fair to say we began to veer off  our diet regimen of the last month somewhere around the Georgia border. "I'm on vacation," Sweetie said when he came out of Subway with a combo that included potato chips. I looked at my nutritious, but lackluster apple slices and made a mental note to go for the chips next time. What are vacations for if not to toss away the everydayness of our lives at least for a time. Whitt's General Store The big black cloud that had been hovering over the mountain suddenly...

At the risk of sounding like a big whiny baby, I am going to go on a short rant.  I awoke this morning to find it was burning hot outside, my stomach could not face one more serving of whole wheat anything and my email account had been hacked.  I long for the good old days. Problem is I'm not even sure what days those would be. The ones where I was so thin, my sister called me toothpick? The ones where I looked fit and trim because I worked out in the gym everyday ... and oh by the way I was a little anorexic (like being a little pregnant.) Or maybe I want to return to the days when the snow covered the car, and the winds howled. How about going to back to the day when we used land line phones to talk to people across the country and pretty monogrammed stationery to write letters that a postman dropped through a slot in the door. Better yet, what if I traveled back to the days my creativity couldn't be squashed and my sunny disposition remained in tact. I feel like ...

"A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he deserves." Paulo Coelho One more stroll around the block before going night night. It feels very important to me to introduce Miss Grace to church.  Perhaps I'm trying to make up for what I didn't do with my own kids, or Gracie's mom.  I'm not going to spend too much time analyzing it. I'll just take her with me whenever the opportunity arises. As with most things, timing is everything. And this morning it worked out just right to get to church on time. She was up,  bottled, cerealed, played with and put back down in time for a quick early morning snooze. Then woke up just as it was time to go.  Yeh, it could be just happenstance, but I think maybe I had a Helping Hand. Grace was not exactly sure what was going on, but quickly found her groove. She sang every song...

"Can you be truly grateful for EVERYTHING in your life? Even the circumstances, situations and/or people that are challenging? Christine Hassler* Here it is 2:00pm on Thanksgiving day. I am up, showered and dressed. I've walked the dog, made stuffing, peeled potatoes and stuck my hand elbow deep into a turkey carcass. Oh, happy day! About five last night I started flying around the house like a winged monkey in the Wizard of Oz. I frantically, vacuumed the whole house. I got down on my knees to clean cat puke stains that have mocked me for a month. I let the sweat drip off my brow like I'd run a marathon as I wondered what was wrong with me. Then I had the tiniest of flashbacks to a time after I'd first been diagnosed with depression. I'd been laying around worrying my mother about my moodiness for days. All of a sudden as if stuck in the butt with a cattle prod, I got all crazy about cleaning my room. And when my poor mother ventured in to see what was going on,...

"Grief and gratitude are kindred souls, each pointing to the beauty of what is transient and given to us by grace." Patricia Campbell Carlson (Letter to a Friend) I've been collecting quotes for about as long as I remember. I've got journals full of them, and computer files galore. The same with recipes written on the backs of napkins, and cut out of newspapers. My intent was always to go back one day, put them into some kind of order and collate them into a book. Not an original idea, I know. And now the task has become so daunting that I'll probably just keep on collecting. One day my children will toss them out along with my father's minutia that I can't seem to part with. Adding a quote to one's blog isn't original either, unless you're the Bloggess and make up your own that go viral. But I like to share! The quote above came through my email on Sat. from gratitude.org's Word for the Day. The three G's - grief and gratitude and g...

"Praise the bridge that carried you over." George Colman In the last couple of days the fire that has already burned 192,000 acres on the Georgia side of the Okefenokee Swamp jumped over into Florida. I guess that's why the air here is so thick with smoke, ash is covering the cars and it is hard to breathe. And I'm not even that close to the fire. Jacksonville Johnnie tells me it's been like this for weeks when he gets up to go to work before the sun comes up. Yikes! Today I'm grateful for the people who fight fires. In fact I'm pretty darn grateful for all the people who put their lives on the line every minute of every day while people like me stay inside where it's cook and the air is clean when I try to decide where to hang pictures. And I'm grateful for the ordinary people who get up every day and go to work doing the mundane, ho hum kinds of jobs that we all take for granted. When was the last time you smiled at the grocery clerk, thanked th...

"Stress is not what happens to us. It's our response TO what happens. And RESPONSE is something we can choose." Maureen Killoran, Life Coach I got up feeling pretty darn good this morning. Knew I had some laundry to do so got right to it. Then started re-potting plants that have been in dire need of some fresh soil and a bigger pot. I took a breather to run to the bank and store for some more pots. I walked into the bank, asked for the lady I usually deal with. Since her office lights were out, it was pretty clear she wasn't in. She's been moved to another bank. One thing I can say for Wachovia, they have nothing against change! Change the name, change the people, change the decor in the end it's still the same place my mom and dad opened an account back in 1962. I shouldn't have let my mind go there. But I did. The reason I was at the bank was to close out my father's accounts. No big deal, right? But as the bank manager started asking questions, and...

"This, surely, is the most valuable legacy we can pass on to the next generation. Not money, houses, or heirlooms, but a capacity for wonder and gratitude, a sense of aliveness and joy. Why don't we work harder at it?" Arthur Gordon A Touch of Wonder Grammy, Ashley, Little Gracie Daughter and Dad Today I'm grateful for time spent with my soon-to-be-a-mother-granddaughter. I got sick the day she arrived so mostly I stayed quarantined in my room while she spent time in the mole hole with her father. When they are together the 24 hour clock has no meaning. They eat, sleep and play when they feel like it. I'll be the first to admit that there has been concern over this pregnancy. Times have certainly changed from when my sister was an unwed mother back in 1967. She was sent away to a "home" and even though she grew noticeably bigger with each visit no one EVER spoke of it. Perhaps my parents discussed it in the confines of their room but it was never shared ...

I've been mostly in bed for the past two days. The hacking cough is mostly gone but the tightness in my chest is still there. I'm easily winded and lack even the little bit of energy I'm used to. So I haven't been thinking grateful thoughts or smiling about much. Just trying to sleep the bug out of me. I'm grateful to have a bed to sleep in, with comfy sheets and a pillow that has been with me for years. Having watched about as many house buying shows on HGTV and whodunit 48 Hour Mysteries as a person can stand I was grateful to come upon the Sandra Bullock movie, The Proposal, tonight. I love Sandra Bullock. I loved the movie and I laughed loud and hard even when it caused me to have a coughing fit. I'm grateful the movie had a happy ending, because frankly I like it when love wins out and the boy and girl see the light! But when it comes to the stuff real gratitude is all about, check out my friend Amy's blog . She has a way of writing that always tells ...

"to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, richer or poorer in sickness and in health to love and to cherish 'til death us do part" June 3, 1941 Honolulu, HA On this day in 1941 my parents were married. If they were still living they would be celebrating 70 years of marriage. Today I'm grateful for those two people and the home, however dysfunctional it may have been at times, they made for my sisters and me. No matter what happened in our lives (or theirs) there was always a place to come home to, to kick off my shoes at the door and to grab a Little Debbie. It makes me smile to think of the two young people who started off on that unknown journey with hopes and dreams and love in their eyes. Oh sure it makes me sad too, but I'm making a Smile list not a Cry Baby list. June 3, 2001 60th Wedding Anniversary Jacksonville, FL At the risk of making it sound like I believe the Great Sign Maker in the Sky has nothing else to do but shatter my ...

"Gratefulness - the simple response of our hearts to this life in all its fullness - goes beyond boundaries of creed, age, vocation, gender, and nation." J. Robert Moskin Today I'm grateful for Tylenol and Kleenex. Out of the blue I developed the cold from hell. I look and sound like a TV commercial where the woman is surrounded by wadded up tissues and says in an almost unrecognizable voice, I'm all stuffed up. Someone suggested that perhaps the Divine Time Manager was trying to get me to slow down, rest, and take stock. I wonder? If it's a sign, I really can't ignore it! Today I smiled at two blog posts I read. The first by Josh Urban had the potential to make me weep. In fact I'm kind of surprised I didn't. For all intents and purposes it is kind of a sad story. But Josh, with his big heart, turned it around with his idea of teaching Vets how to play the guitar. That's the part that made me smile. That boy does not fall far from his mother...