Lost son finds way home again……

James came home the other night and since he brought every piece of technology with him, I think he is planning on staying for a while. He has been in Seattle since late July, escaping quickly once the house flooded. He has enjoyed life as a college dude living with a bunch of other college dudes near the UW campus. But winter is here, hours at Home Depot drastically cut, and the emergence of an ever present girlfriend of a roommate brought on the return. I am most sure it will take some getting used too….. the shoes in the entry way and the dirty clothes & dishes left everywhere….Hmmm? What was that thing I was just writing about? That’s right! Grateful list…. Grateful list….


Welcome home son! Connor and I are happy to see you again!

My customary kick off to holiday decorating is as soon as the dishwasher starts humming after our Thanksgiving dinner….. Since I will be in Oakland for Thanksgiving this year, I have decided to get a little head start here and there….





Much much more home décor to come. I have a Ho! Ho! Bug brewing inside but the internet is going in and out this morning causing a frustrating blogging experience....

I am off to get my new tires, alignment & oil change very much needed. Thank you God for providing for my needs today…….

long time no post

I am back from my short break. Mostly I was gone because I had absolutely nothing to say. Growing up I remember hearing Baba & mom say "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I guess I am keeping true to my teachings because I have kind of been in a funk lately. A little depressed over the incoming job rejections and constant barrage of negative economic news. Packed with the knowledge that "This too shall pass" I am taking a break from a lot of the news programs I usually watch and am focusing on the positive.

To a group of friends and me, November is known as Gratitude month. So I have been writing a list of things to be grateful for and getting together with friends to share our experiences, strength and hope for a better day. Getting together and listening to one another, I am reminded that I can work through any of my issues. It also helps me keep my issues in perspective and be constantly grateful for what I have accomplished thus far in my life.

I was certainly grateful for AAA this week. After finishing a meeting at Costco Wednesday I discovered a very flat tire. All those years paying for AAA I finally got to use it for a rescue tire change. And boy am I grateful to my good friend Todd, a self professed car geek who LOVES to do investagative work. I now know what tires to buy and where the best deal in town is for those tires, alignment & minor mechanical work. It is such a guy thing and this single lady is very grateful to have a guy around to keep me from doing something dumb like pay too much for possibly the wrong product......

I am excited to see another new baby in the family. It must be the year of the girls around here and our little Avery Elizabeth is so darling..... I haven't gotten through to sister Sue yet because I think she has not been home very much (would you be home if you could be next door holding a baby?) oh the memory of baby smells is so strong in me..... puts me in a wonderful state of mind...

I have been busy cleaning up the back garden, winterizing the beds and filling all my compost bins to the brim@! I have also been working on a few Christmas craft projects I will begin sharing soon.... I hope to be back later today with a few layouts I have completed over the past several weeks.... here is one for starters....

See you later today or this weekend.... Have a good day!

WOW

What a great time to live and witness this moment in history. My emotions have really caught me off guard and after last night I need to buy more Kleenex and get some sleep.......

I had the great pleasure to spend the evening watching the results with James & Megan, each voting for the first time. I was really happy to share the night with them and hopefully provided them with some historical perspective. I was born before African Americans even had the right to vote & I am really not that old! I can remember the Civil Rights marches & riots of the 60's. The I have a dream speech & the famous photos from a Hotel balcony are burned forever in my mind. I remember segregation and the fear based ugliness that pervaded our nation at that time.

Yesterday I woke up quite nervous, scared that the polls were wrong, scared that people would not show up to vote, scared of those who perpetuate a fear/hate based mind thought.

Today I am hopeful that our nation will listen to the collective voice that has spoken. We as a nation will no longer let the Good Old Boy network make all the rules. I suspect it will take some time for change to come to certain parts of our country. I suspect that when the next furniture market comes around, the young white kids will still be handing out brochures while young black boys are shining shoes on the street. Change will be slower in some areas but change will come.

Now - if we could only get equal pay for women......