Did you ever....

have a sleepless night because your internal thermostat has gone whacko and even though you have the fan pointed directly on you and the air conditioner on high enough for flannels...you are dripping wet every other hour? You get up at 5:00 am because what's the point, and start to get ready for a 9:00 appt only to find that someone hijacked your body during the night and took it to a 5 star restaurant for a 7 course meal and several desserts. Not even the 'fat clothes" look right! Your hair is stringy, circles under your eyes reach your chin and your neck creeks every time you move. One shoe is missing and you remember vaguely seeing the dog with the other one, but you thought you rescued it. You get in your car, adjust the seat because your son borrowed it last night because he had no gas in his. Now YOU have no gas. You take the short cut on fumes, only to find that there is construction on this path that you were unaware of...
You are late, again.
You walk into the bookstore, flustered, embarassed and oh so depressed. And...there she is. Your "appointment". Your friend Wendy...you've been friends since Kindergarten. A long time. She lights up when she sees you. She hugs you with genuine affection. She doesn't notice the fat clothes...or doesn't say it if she does. You share conversation, pictures and life happenings over coffee and a double chocolate cupcake. You laugh! And laugh again. You buy a book to jump start your creativity which has recently taken a hike. You shop for a jeans skirt to hide the extra padding and discover that the fat pants...are a size smaller than you thought! You buy the skirt anyway. You stop for gas on the way home ... and get a surprise 50 cent savings on each gallon with your discount card!
You smile. Really smile.
Life is good after all.

If this has happened to you, you are probably over 50. :-)
I hope you have a Wendy in your life.
Some things are so important ... and the rest... just doesn't matter!
Happy Wednesday!

Have a Happy Week~

Yesterday I watched a small bird, flying very fast, disappear into the canopy of an oak tree. So dense were its leaves that it was impossible to see what happened next, though I can tell you it remained inside.

I wondered how the little bird found its opening through the leaves at such a speed, and then managed to gently align its fragile body on the branch it chose to land upon, all within a fraction of a second.

Not to mention the impossible to imagine flying maneuvers required: the banking, the curling, the vertical and horizontal stabilizations, the deceleration and landing.

Memory? Calculation? Not in that tiny brain. Instinct?

Maybe, but how does instinct know which way the branches of a tree have grown when no two are the same?

That little bird just knew.

It had faith, in spite of not being able to see how things would work out, that if (and only if) it stayed the course the details would be taken care of; that an opening would appear and a twig would be found.

In fact, had she slowed down enough to carefully and logically inspect the tree first, the prudent thing to do, she would have lost her lift and fallen to the ground.

Kind of like reaching for your dreams.

Neither memory, nor calculating, nor instincts are the deciding factors, but faith coupled with action.

Mr. Popularity!

Bella Sinclair Award

My dear friend Marie gave me this award.
Since I seem to be taking a vacation from blogging this summer, I was truly surprised, but oh so honored to receive it!
Thanks Marie! I can't seem to leave a comment on your blog ;-(
Did things change since I was last here?

This is what Marie has to say about this wonderful award:

This is a very special award and the person it was made for is a very special woman. She is a sister-friend, a talented artist, A great mom, a poet, a mental ninja, a muse, beautiful, a genius, and her friend-sister Ces created it for her.

This is what Ces says about the award...

Read the whole post here.

http://cesandherdishes.blogspot.com/2009/07/bella-sinclair-award.html

"Ces created the Bella Sinclair Award in honor of Bella Sinclair exceptional woman and brilliant artist who epitomizes the concept of the artist as inspiration, of sisterhood, caring and sharing. It is symbolized by the Quercus lobata or Valley Oak, a handsome and graceful tree with a sturdy trunk, up to 5 ft in diameter and 120 feet tall, the largest western deciduous oak."

She also said
"I designed this award to celebrate art in the blogs and to honor the value of friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring. It is to be awarded to the gifted, accomplished, eloquent and talented blogger whose friendship and influence inspire us to do our best. That I named it after Bella Sinclair is because she epitomizes all of these things. She is an inspiration to many of us.

I have chosen to symbolize this award with the Quercus lobata or Valley Oak. It is a simple and unadorned award but heavy on meaning. The Valley Oak is a large handsome tree with a stout and sturdy trunk and widely spreading branches that form a broad open crown. It can reach up to a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 4 feet, sometimes much greater. It is the largest of the western deciduous oaks and is a handsome and graceful shade tree.

I hope that when Bella returns, this award would have already circulated in the blogs. It is my honor to give this award to the first recipients who I hope will find the same pleasure as I have in spreading its crown, giving shade and the comfort of friendship and caring and of sisterhood by sharing this award with their blog-friends and sisters!

Now here are my friends, go out and pick other sister friends, spread the crown, give shade and comfort and caring to your blog and sister friends.

This is a lovely award!
If you already have it...you are doubly blessed! :-)
Linda
At Linda Smith Originals

Joanna
at Joanna Thomas Art Dolls

Heidi
at Eebee Diaries

Mo'a
at Mo'a Roamig-Boyles

Sue
at Barton Originals

These women are bloggers that I follow and am always inspired by. I hope they are as honored to receive the Bella award as I am.
Thank you so much Marie for thinking of me and for being such an inspiration yourself! XO

My Wish for You

The Hardest Part...

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
Was the hardest part
And the strangest thing
Was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start

I could feel it go down
Bittersweet I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining in the clouds
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
You really broke my heart
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
And that was the hardest part

I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're a silver lining the clouds
Oh, and I
Oh, and I
I wonder what it's all about

Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do it just comes undone
And everything is torn apart
Oh and thats the hardest part
That's the hardest part
Yeah, thats the hardest part


That's the hardest part
~Coldplay

If it's true that sometimes older souls move on to make room for new ones,
then Thank You Grandma Anne for making room for our Carson.

Look at the wonderful legacy you left behind
89 years of living and giving.
We shall miss you too...
You were our adopted Grandma Anne.
We also know some fine angels who were there to lead you in...
Love,
The Celustas

My New Little Love!

Carson was born via C section June 1, 2009
Mom and Dad doing well.
Baby is absolutely breathtaking!