You can blame my wireless network for this blog being late today, but you have all weekend to read it, so I'm not going to worry. The birds in the picture have the right idea. It is a bit freaky, especially when it doesn't always work.

Labels: cats, dogs, horses, humans, liars

Christmas 2010 has come and gone. How do you feel about that? Happy? Relieved? Sad? Tired?

Labels: Christmas, decorations, gifts

A friend sent this to me, and it couldn't sum up my feelings any better. Rough year. Friends got me through:


Friendship is…the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words. ~ George Eliot

The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. ~ Henry David Thoreau

We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Friends are not only together when they are side by side,
Even one who is far away…is still in our thoughts. ~ Ludwig Von Beethoven

The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships. ~ Abraham Lincoln

I'm always interested in people, aren't you? Do you find yourself watching how people react and the things that push their hot buttons? I got a Kindle the end of September but hadn't had a chance to read it for about a month. I got both of my girls one for Christmas and so I've been reading mine with Kara as she's here for a visit.

Tonight I was looking through the lists of regular books and free ones. My fingers hovered over the Count of Monte Cristo then passed over. I wondered just WHY I didn't want to read it. Then I realized just how painful it would be for me. One of my basic traits is a desire for justice. The injustice in that story set up and through the majority of it just grieves my soul. I can't stand to see Dantes imprisoned unfairly. I can't stand that Mercedes marries that creep. It just grieves my soul. LOL I can't help it. I know it's weird but I can't stand to see people hurt by injustice. Which means I also hate Monopoly. I can't STAND to have someone fall on one of my hotels and then go bankrupt.

So what about you? What is your underlying characteristic? What is that one thread that runs through how you look at the world? And what quirk does it give you? Fess up! LOL

Labels: Count of Monte Cristo, inuustice, Monopoly

Sorry for the late post today--I know you were all waiting with bated breath. ;-) My family spent the day at the hospital, visiting our nephew Tyler, his mom and dad (Gina and Mark) and his sister Mindy.

Labels: God's gifts, Strange healing

Have you ever put your trust in the wrong person? I'm embarrassed to say that I've done it over and over again. I always want to believe the best in people, and it takes a lot for me to trust someone, but once I do, it takes a LOT to make me not trust you.

People say that I'm quiet when they meet me in person. Really, I'm shy. I like to stand back and assess situations. That doesn't seem like my personality, but it is. There's a book called "The Gift of Fear" -- it's written by a top security professional in America and it outlines his story watching his mother kill his father in the home, and the instant before when he watched her face change and knew it would happen. At that point, he got his sister out of the home and fled.

Now, that tragic incident made him an expert on reading people and his main point is to get people to listen to that voice in the back of their heads that warns them. Most women ignore that voice because they want to be "nice" -- we're taught to be "nice". We're taught to avoid conflict and will often give of ourselves rather than stand up for ourselves.

So while I may stand back and assess, I don't often listen to that niggling, and that's my promise to myself this year. Not to become fearful or scared of living, but to set up some boundaries for myself and allow the truth to filter in without reacting so quickly. Have you ever ignored a warning sign? Put aside your sixth sense? How do you balance healthy trust with a good dose of careful living? The picture is of Nevada City, near my parents' house. Doesn't it look idyllic? And trustworthy? Ahem.

I love bread. But I can't eat gluten. I recently read an article about how celiacs became so prevalent after we all quit eating sourdough bread. The article is here: http://www.denvernaturopathic.com/news/sourdough.html

Very interesting! And I like some sourdough bread. Any of you out there try it and find you can eat it when you can't eat regular wheat bread?

If you have a great sourdough bread recipe or a store brand you love, I'd be thrilled if you'd pass it along. I thought I might try it and see how I do. Oh if I were able to have regular buns and bread again it would be a miracle! :)

So help me out here if you can. And Merry Christmas! Our baby girl is coming to town on Thursday and I'm so excited to see her! She'd thank you for a sourdough option too because she can't eat gluten either.

Labels: celiacs, sourdough bread

Denise's Favorite Reads of 2010

There's something I've SO missed about Christmas. DOLLS!! I used to love to buy dolls for Kara when she was little. She so loved her babies. Last year I bought a little baby doll for Alexa but she didn't really care about it. But THIS year it's a different story. When you ask her what she wants Mimi and Poppy to buy her for Christmas, she says, "Baby dolls."

Ah, music to her Mimi's heart! The rage seems to be the American Girl dolls and my aunt Edith told me they make them for little girls. They're called Bitty Baby. So of course I had to order one. And it came today. You would have thought I'd gotten my edits or something the way I was dancing around the living room. And of course I had to open it and see it. Oh. My. Gosh. TOOO cute!

I can't wait for Christmas now. This baby has her own stuffed bear too. Punky will LOVE it!

What about you? What's your favorite gift to give at Christmas?

Labels: American Girl Doll, Bitty Baby, Christmas

I can't help it. I'm having the BEST Christmas ever!!!!

I'm not sure which of these entities is most dangerous, the bear or the bee, except I'm sure the bear will be worse once the bee stings him.

Labels: alone, self talk, weird behavior

Every week I tell myself I'm not going to watch "Hoarders" and every week it tapes, and like a lemming, I fall into its trap. So last night's was very difficult. Father and son were hoarders. Father was now dead at 91 and lived in filth until his dying days. In the son's defense, he was incredibly mentally ill.

His brother came to get the house cleaned up and "help" his brother. But the brother was a slime of the worst degree. Where was his concern when daddy was dying in filth? Where was he when the mentally ill brother was caring for his father? Nowhere. He didn't come around until the million dollar estate was up for grabs. And guess what? Daddy had left the house to the mentally ill brother, which drove the "sane" brother crazy.

I think it should be LAW that if you care for your ailing parent, you get the house. Period. Have you ever cared for someone dying? It is backbreaking, painful work, and if you're not there, you don't get the house. I think inheritance is disgusting, the traits it brings out in people is the worst of humanity. Inheritance is not yours. It's just not. It's someone else's money and they can spend it any way they like. So get your dirty paws off!

In my opinion, the "mentally ill" brother on the show had a heart, he cared for his father the best way he knew how. If you had ANY feelings at all for your father, the "sane brother" would have intervened. But he was nowhere to be seen until the estate was up for grabs.

People need to work and make their own money. Some awful parents use their legacy as a way to control from the grave too. SO I'm here to say, I'm against inheritance. I'd rather have it all gone anyway -- my grandfather was 95 yesterday. Spend it Grandpa!! Spend every last cent and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Isn't this volcano beautiful? So majestic and powerful, bright and noticeable. I looked at this picture and I thought this is kind of what we look like when we have too much stress in our lives and are ready to spew. We're past the point of productivity and we are filled with a lot of destructive anger. We may also prove to be destructive to those in our lives whom we love--or our employers. This would not be good.

Labels: empty leaf, Stress, Volcano

I read a lot of autobiographies. I read a lot of obituaries. I want to know what makes people tick, why they make the choices they make in life. It's why I prefer the "People" story to the news story. It gives me the relevant background that I prefer. Nora Epron's new book is next on my list. If you're not familiar with her, she's the genius who wrote "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle" (a romance that manages to keep the couple apart for the whole of the movie and still work!) I bow at her feet.

One thing I notice about truthful autobiographies is they tick people off. This I don't understand. It's an person's story, their truth. You may not like the person at the end of the book (I wasn't all that fond of Paula Deen at the end of hers. I thought she was too controlling of those around her), but you have to respect their right to tell their story from their perspective as they see it. It saddens me how judgmental people are of others, and that seems the root of our problems.

Eat, Pray, Love is a perfect example. I'm not really a fan of this book, but what people attack the author for is leaving "a perfectly good husband" for her journey. Okay, how do we know he was a "perfectly good husband?" Then, she's attacked in the reviews for falling into a relationship that's a rebound relationship, out-of-wedlock and generally stupid. Which she knows. It's how she tells the story. Then I did THIS stupid thing, after that first crazy thing...

The point of any good redemption story -- and maybe I should use another example since her journey is not a Christian one -- let's say Paula Deen from that standpoint. The point of the redemption is that it comes after the fall from grace. So when someone falls from grace, and rebounds and tells us, look at all these stupid things I did. I tell you so you will learn from me and not do this...WHY do reviewers feel the need to say, "She was so selfish. I hate this book because she's a sinner!" Look at how so many will still attack Amy Grant as if she hasn't paid the consequences for her mistake. As if her children haven't. As if JESUS didn't die for that very thing. Amy is redeemed. Who are we to keep pointing a finger at her?

Find me the biography on the person who isn't a sinner, and I'll find you a liar, AND an autobiography that didn't sell squat. We like to watch people get back up. That's why "Eat, Pray, Love" resonates. It's why "America's Funniest Videos" has been on for twenty plus years. It's why King David had a WHOLE heart for God because he knew what it was to fall -- and to get back up. When I read the angry reviews and judgments in some of these autobiographies, all I can think is, there but for the grace of God go I...

I think the thing that so many Christians fail to realize is NONE of us is the brother who stayed home. We are ALL the prodigal son. And if someone comes to you and tells you their truth? Show them some grace. I think that's what Jesus would do I believe He prepared them a banquet even.

I've been reading romance ever since I became a teenager. I think the first love story I ever read was Green Mansions when I was about 13. I still remember crying as Rima fell to her death from the tree. Now we go for happy endings in romance, thank goodness! I hate sad endings.

Labels: Christian romance, Mark of the Lion, Redeeming Love

Know what I'm tired of? Picking up a NYT bestselling novel, reading five chapters, and throwing it in the trash. Why do I throw away a perfectly good book, you ask? Lots of reasons.

Labels: novels, NTY bestseller, rating systems

Diann's post yesterday inspired me, and since Barbara, one of my fifty-five maternal first cousins, sent me some cute pictures yesterday, I thought I'd share, knowing that at least Diann would enjoy this. But first, can someone tell me if this is a fox or a coyote? I'm thinking fox because of the bushy tail.

Labels: Have fun, Playing, Snow

Labels: Christmas lights, Christmas tree, Snow

I think the most frustrating thing about parenting is seeing your children struggle in the same ways you've struggled. When you're pregnant with the boy genius, you think it's going to be different. Just like you dreamed of Prince Charming, you dreamed of the perfect, little children. But God says, now what fun would that be? I mean, would you play "Chutes and Ladders" if there was no risk? God must feel the same about life. If it's smooth sailing all the time, what's the point? If Judas wasn't poor and greedy, would things have been different? Like Judas came against Jesus, life comes up against you and just like in a video game, you have to learn to avoid the pitfalls. We think we can protect our children from all the bumps and bruises, but really, we can only prepare them, armor them up for the game.

One of my sons has Aspergers, and his report came through saying that his grades suffer due to his lack of organization. That he is a charming, amiable and respectful young man who does everything he's told, but he forgets to turn stuff in when it's due. And his backpack is a mess. And then, comes the killer...maybe Mom could help??

I am an excellent organizer, believe it or not. Why? Because I am terribly disorganized by nature. I can find anything you need in less than two minutes. Now, if I'm dead, I pity the poor soul who has to find it after me, but *I* know where everything is, because I have to use my own system. A system that I'm trying to pass on to the poor souls who inherited my madly-rushing brain. It's called, quit listening to the experts and do what works for you.

My system includes crazy file folders that all mean something to me. Animal print folders? It means taxes or money garbage that I hate to do. Because it's a jungle out there.

The Amalfi Coast Painting file folders? For my business because great art, nor Rome were built in a day. The kids are color-coded by their favorite colors. Let's say that you need to find the plumber's bill from six months' ago. That would be in the household file that does not include any of the regular household bills and it's green because it's money wasted (or money not spent on cute shoes or purses.) The recurring bills in the bill-paying folders, sorted by month and category (Utilities, Insurance, etc.)

Legal mumbo-jumbo? It's under the heading "Taxes" because it all makes no sense to me, so why not put that all in one place in the hopes that someone else will make sense of it? It's kind of my way of red-flagging something and saying, 'not my problem.'

If you think that's convoluted, you should see my phone book. "Oh they're under N because they were our neighbors back when we lived in Mt. View. Or that's under E because she's Elle's friend."

Do you navigate the world in a way that you would hate to explain to a professional? What traits did you pass on and ho you see your traits in your kids and feel guilty for passing it on? Work with me here. We'll file it under "Tips & Tricks" and give it a nice, pink, rosy folder to show our happiness and health when we work together.

Labels: ADD organizing, Aspergers, systems