if I had a million dollars

Hello fair friends,

As soon as I get the camera back I will regale you with fantabulous pics of our happy Jesus day fun pirate scary holiday adventure!(T-that last bit was for you!)
I'm glad to see others have had a good holiday-it always seems to create more stress than it relieves, but we strive to rise above all that, right?!
I got some loverly things from friends and family, not the least is a black velvet opera cape from my husboard. Can I pick them or what? (not that I have another husband, but you know what I mean.)
And, after reading my sis-in-law's latest blog, I have to confess I have a package for her tots all ready to go. My plan is to actually run out the door at 7am with it in my hands this time instead of leaving it by the hall tree!

Blessings and best wishes to you all as we reach New Year's Eve,
E

give me a pen and paper

I need to remember something. When blogger asks if I want to delete all my current html, say no. Just say no. Now I have to re-enter all the sites I like looking at and the friend's blogs I like to go visit. arrggh!

Gratitude

Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poorhouse. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man's abode.

Henry David Thoreau

Neti Magic

Back in the day I used to work for a wonderful lady who was an acupuncturist and naturopathic doctor. Among the many things I learned from her was the art of using a Neti pot. What's that, you ask? It is a magical, non-mechanical, stylish, handy dandy nose cleaner outer!
I have not been as faithful a user as I once was, but I still hold it in high esteem. The neti pot can help with symptoms from headaches to sinus infections and allergies. We have recently begun using a form of the Neti pot, the Neil-med on our youngest daughter who has had problems with her sinuses almost since birth.

Of course she is not too thrilled about having warm saline water shot up her nose at 6 o'clock in the morning, but it has already improved the clarity of her speech and her snot factor has decreased in volume and is not green any more!
With cold and flu season upon us, I recommend everyone get on the neti bandwagon and have a go at shooting water up their nose! Today!

Job-like

No, not job, Job, as in the man of many sorrows from the Old Testament...
So I'm driving along I205 no problems, speeding happily towards work when a great commotion commences under the hood of my precious 49 Volvo. It was just in the shop, I think, what the heck? I shakily make it to work, pull in to the parking lot and shudder to a stop. Call USAA for towing service. Tow man cometh. Starts car. Says, hey, that sound sounds familiar. Mind if I look under the hood? No, I say. He pops open the hood and low and behold a spark plug is missing. Missing, I say? Yes, he says. So the beast of burden is hauled off to the volvo hospital where they diagnose her with a missing spark plug. Less than $20 later we are back in business, picking the baby up tonight!
Then I get in to work and my computer won't turn on. Which is funny because I never turn it off. Not sure about that one. Get it turned on but then it won't connect to the server. So I reboot. It connects to the Internet just fine but not to our corporate connection. Yikes! I curse a little under my breath for good measure, reboot the bloody server again and yipee it works!
Then my mouse won't work. Two AA batteries later and I'm working along.
Theeeen I go to the bathroom and notice that my sort-of-new black tights have mirrored runs in them on the outside of my legs. dammit! Skirt gets pulled down a little bit more to hide this most egregious misstep. Nobody at Starbucks said anything so I think I was okay.

just a little job-like day.

post script

Computer is back and better than ever! (thank-you Old Town Computers!!)

Zakk has the flu so we gals are fending for ourselves-hopefully a night of a movie and popcorn to sooth the savage beasties!

Now I keep forgetting to charge my phone at home...I wish I could remember everything.

Alternaween: So this year we did things a little different. Somewhat out of necessity and somewhat to keep our sanity!
#1 was a black kitty kat and #2 was a little monkey with a built-in banana in her pocket! Dad was good enough to haul them around from Halloween spectacular at their preschool to our old babysitter's house so we could go out and see a fantastic show just we two!
The children had their fill of spooky cartoons and candy to last them until next year's "scary pirate halloween adventure"!

ps-no-one egged the house while we were gone-thank you NoPo's!

noties

home computer crashed.
alternative Halloween.
The Medium-awesome!
Lux Aterna-beautiful
don't leave phone charge at work.
write notes to people.

back for more later.

Fa Sol La Part I

I wanted to write this well crafted blog about my new found enthusiasm for shape note singing. But I only got as far as saving it in the edit phase with two sentences and a discontinued link to a website under construction. So I thought I'd try another angle.
I was trying to think of the reasons I have become so fascinated with shape note singing and the first thing that came to me was my childhood. My father was a chaplain for 20 years in the US Army. And before that he was a minister at a church in a small logging town in Oregon. I can't remember the first hymn tune I learned, or the first one I heard, but I can remember the joy I felt sitting next to my mom(when my dad was preaching) or both my parents and hearing them sing from the hymnal, sometimes looking down at the notes and the words, sometimes looking up at the alter, knowing the tune by heart. I would look around the room and see some people with their eyes closed, not even needing to look at the book. When I got to be about middle school age my goal became to learn harmony to the hymns I knew so well. My mother would sing treble with her beautiful soprano and I would weave my voice around hers in alto or tenor companionship. If I didn't always enjoy the sermon, which tended to happen especially when we had a southern baptist chaplain on post, I nearly always felt a connection to, and a feeling of happiness with my inner self, my family, and my god while the congregation sang. The churches I worshipped in usually had a piano or organ for accompaniment. When we lived in Germany we were blessed with an incredible organist who was classically trained and would play Bach and Wieder before the start of the service. There were pianists, organists, and sometimes a choir. If I could choose one experience that stands out for me as unique, though, I would pick the times we sang acapella. To be able to hear all the voices, men, women, children, quavery, melodious, airy or booming, without aid of accompaniment, this was something that felt special and made for a more intimate setting during worship.

That leads me to shape note singing...

My sister-in-law is missing

There is a hole in our lives where she should be. There is a place set at the table where she should sit. Come home.

La Dolce Diva: Renee Fleming

Two of my favorite things: opera and grand style!

La Dolce Diva | Fashion Model, Designer & Runway Show Videos from Style.com