Studio Window

I Want, I Want, I Want!

2009-07-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

This simply tickled my fancy

There's Only One

2009-07-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Love the sentiment!

Do go visit the jen lemen blog. You can even purchase this poster on high quality paper.

Today

2009-07-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another blog and I thought it might jump-start my writing.

Outside my window... it’s cool and cloudy. The mama bird dive-bombs into her nest.

I am thinking... it was an eventful morning, leaving me with deep questions.

I am thankful for... the funny, cranky, lovely, unique elderly women in my life!

From the kitchen... the sound of the washer, unbalanced as it spins; dirty dishes in the sink, a sad pan smelling of burned corn.

I am wearing... navy blue.

I am creating... memories.

I am going... to be running errands soon, and making pizza dough with wheat flour and yeast.

I am reading... Finding Your Own North Star

I am hoping... to have a productive day with Dale tomorrow.

I am hearing... birds and background traffic and STILL more fireworks being shot off!

Around the house... are breezes bringing fresh air through the open windows.

One of my favorite things... my new old friends, the Gauntlettes!

A few plans for the rest of the week... painting, knitting, deep cleaning, organizing computer files.

R.I.P. Cecelia

2009-07-09T13:47:00.001-07:00

Cecelia Gifford
1925 - 2009
I sang at Cecelia's funeral today.

She was the most senior member of St. George's Quilters.

After spending an afternoon gardening, she passed away on the 4th of July.

A firecracker to the end.

We'll miss you, ya old hag!

Sunday Secrets: July 05, 2009

2009-07-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

It's my turn. It's finally my turn.

Oft times, much preferred.

The Circle of Life

2009-07-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is going through this life cycle in the most literal way. Her husband died last year, leaving her to care for her young family without a lot of support from extended family and friends.

I watch her struggle, listen to her, try to encourage her. For the moment, her grief is deep and trying to keep her nose above water is about all she can do. I hurt for her, even lose sleep over her distress, but overall feel pretty helpless to help lift her out of this pain.

Eventually, I hope, she will find some steady footing and can start looking at the bigger picture. Her life is changed forever. I hope that eventually she can be open to what God is trying to offer, to that rebirth.

Blemishes are OK

2009-07-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

What's the Use of Hiding?

2009-07-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

I read an article by Martha Beck not too long ago in which she advocated "giving up." Not so much giving up by not trying. But that when you do try, and you do fail, acknowledge that failure, give it up, and move on to the next thing -- as opposed to doing the same thing over and over and trying to make it work, beating your head against a wall.

I've been mulling that idea over for a time. My default is definitely one of a head beater. If I treated my best friends the way I treat myself, they wouldn't be my friends for long.

So ... give up! Recognize and admit the failures (I have no problem with that), and then move on (THAT'S the part I forget to do).

Martha said that people who know how to give up graciously tend to be happier and more content people. That's the direction I want to continue to flow into.

Labor

2009-06-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Get in on the action
Spread some love

Upside Down Celebrities

2009-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Follow this link
to some of the freakiest
celebrity photos
you've ever seen!

Sunday Secrets: June 28, 2009

2009-06-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment.

Today's secrets come from both Frank's blog and his Twitter site. Put in this order, they seem to tell a story. This time, instead of giving you my take on the secrets, I think I'll let you readers fill in the blanks to make up your own story.

Believe What Your Heart Is Telling You

2009-06-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

I wish I'd had this advice when I was a young adult. As much as my heart was leading me in one direction, I didn't go there because the mother of a boyfriend told me it was not a worthwhile way to go. In another instance, a family member belittled the direction I was heading in school.

Instead of going forth with conviction, I went in the direction of my heart always doubting myself, my abilities, how worthwhile my ambitions were. I never did reach the original dream.

It took many, many years to undo that damage. It took a lifetime to realize that just because those people didn't see the value in my contribution to the world, it did not mean that my contribution is not valuable.

Now I am much more prone to listening to the direction my heart leads me. I know that there is as much value in the directions important to me as in the directions these small people told me I should go. Now, when belittled, I stand tall and firm, and laugh in the face of detractors.

If I choose, I can feel sorry for myself for all those opportunities missed. But why waste even more time?

Now I choose that which is important to me, that which makes my heart soar. For I've come to know that when I dare to follow my own north star, there is benefit to those who sail the ship with me.

"To thine own self be true."

Give and You Shall Receive

2009-06-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

Let's love more.
Let's have compassion.
Let's be wild and crazy with our service.

Time to Get Up

2009-06-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

I get knocked down, but I get up again ...

Share Your Experience

2009-06-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's not so much "older" women, as much as "experienced" women.

I've reconnected with a superb group of women on Facebook that I first knew as girls in high school. It's over 30 years later, and we've all been through some life 'stuff.' As we band together, we are using our life experiences to support and guide one another. As a collective, we're going through all kinds of trials. One is a new widow. One has a teenager that just became an 18-year-old adult. Some of us have children with mental illnesses. Most of us have marriages that need attending. Most of us are in or are approaching menopause. Some of us have weight control issues. Most of us have homes that can use some decluttering.

Amid the group, there is usually someone who has already been through the trauma that another is currently facing. So we encourage each other. Share our wisdom. Share the humor. Generate some energy to keep on keeping on.

On another front, the 'old hags' in my quilt group are going through their own life changes. They are facing terminal illness, moving from independent living to assisted living, coping with the death of children, the loss of sight, the advancing of chronic illnesses, the loss of a spouse. These adopted big sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers have taught me so much about what it means to age with dignity and humor. They've taught me about living with independance and inter-dependance. They reinforce the lessons of love and forgiveness.

Be Open

2009-06-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Jodie. Mom's fixing some dinner right now, so she asked me to be a guest writer. :)

Oprah's words here ring very true in my high school life. It seems as though my class, the class of 2011, is divided into two very distinct extremes of students: the overdoers and the underdoers. Average students, the in-betweens, are very few and far between.

I am among the overdoers. We are the minority, but we group together in all of the Honors classes and foreign languages. We are the ones who finish homework in class, who bring our instruments home to practice, and who ask themselves in the middle of the summer, "what is the difference between white and black seeds of a watermelon?"*

Underdoers make up a whole lot of the rest of my grade. They show up to class stoned, hit on the young female teachers, and when asked how they are in French ("Comment ca va?") reply that they are feeling very hot dog today, thanks ("UN HOT-DOG!")

It's not like these two (very broad) generalizations of students are going head-to-head at war with one another, as would be done in the cinemas**; on the contrary, there are so many people who I find hilarious. There are all sorts of redeeming qualities about everyone, and while study habits may differ, they excel at many other skills that many overdoers lack.

Underdoers are by no means dumb. They've just been trained to hate learning. It is unfashionable to be content with homework just as much as teenagers feel they have to disagree with their parents about EVERYTHING. Apathy abounds, and it's all based on an unfortunate stereotype that is cast on teenagers from not just the media, but from the general populations' understanding. Since it is expected of teenagers to rebel and to be apathetic, they are enabled to simply not care.

This brings me to what Oprah says about learning; not just reading and arithmetic, but about life itself. One must be open to learning or going against the stereotype. When it is truly fashionable to pay attention in class, so it will happen. It is unfortunate that school is more of a social chain than a place to learn, but that fact can be put to advantage if approached the right way.

In other words, don't tell ABC and Disney channel to encourage kids to be open-minded; instead, say it to Hollister and Urban Outfitters. After all, open-mindedness is not only the key to learning, but the key to peace.

--Jodie

*This conversation happened between myself and my overdoer boyfriend earlier today. I asked, and he put aside what he was doing to find the answer. Black seeds are actually fertile, which is why they are found much less often in grocery-store watermelons; white seeds are polyploids, which means that you won't have waxy watermelons growing out of your ears.

**"Haha you're such a nerd! Who does their homework anymore?" "You slacker, get some brains and grow up!" "Geek!" "Bum!" "DORK!" "NE'ER-DO-WELL!"

Sunday Secrets: June 21, 2009

2009-06-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment.

The first secret is from today's US site. This week's secrets are all about fathers. The second secret I posted is one from the archives that I've not shared before.

When I was growing up, it was really hard to love my father. He was one tough old bird with a lot of anger issues. I was mostly afraid of him. So I found father figures in other places ... the fathers of my friends, men I knew from church, and teachers. Not all of them knew I thought of them as the dad I wished I had.

After my mom died, my dad and I came to know each other on our own terms. I'll never forget the day he looked at me, and I knew he saw me for exactly the woman I had grown to become -- no longer his "baby girl." That day, I cried all the way from his home to mine. The prayer inside me had finally been answered. I'm glad I never gave up waiting.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

Wishing my best to all my
Sweet Friends
who are also someone's
Papa.

Anthony Codispoti
1921 - 1999

Pay Attention

2009-06-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

I need to get outside with my camera soon. When my camera is in hand, I tend to pay attention and capture some of the loveliness I normally miss.

Beauty is ...

2009-06-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

She would know.

At the last academy awards, she was the knockout in the lineup!

Pete and Repeat

2009-06-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

So what is is you choose to do today?

How Wisdom Works

2009-06-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

I know a lot about a tiny few things.
I know a bit about a lot of things.
I know next to nothing about most of what happens on this planet.

I must be getting wise. I know how little I know.

Keep Your Mouth SHUT!

2009-06-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

I'd write something, but ...

:: following Marla's advice ::
:X

Weird Al ... Walk Through My Door(s)

2009-06-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

Craigslist
Weird Al's homage to The Doors, featuring Ray Manzarek himself on keyboards.
Video directed by Liam Lynch.

Time Management

2009-06-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's all about attitude.

Yesterday was Home Blessing day. A Facebook friend had never heard of that, and asked what it was. She said it "sounds wonderful."

Here's how I answered:

The Home Blessing is my once-a-week-extra-spruce-up. I do it on Monday mornings to set the tone for the week. I use this name because when it's done, it blesses me and my family for a full week. It's an attitude thing. When you see it as giving your family a loving, calm place to live, doing these things doesn't feel like a chore.

Also, this is NOT detailed cleaning. It's getting the big stuff up. Each task takes no more than 10 minutes ... and you get to stop, sit down, and drink water in between.

My version includes:
Changing sheets on my bed
Cleaning master bath thoroughly
Washing towels from both bathrooms & kitchen
Sweeping and spot cleaning the wood floors
Vacuuming bedrooms, living room and halls
Wiping down kitchen counters, stove & cabinets
Removing 'science experiments' from fridge
Dust (fast, with a feather duster)
Watering the plants
Gathering trash all around the house
Taking out trash and recycling
Sweep off the front porch (sometimes back deck)
Keep rebooting the laundry

I got no response to this answer. After all, it looks like cleaning up the house, right? Chores to do. Putting in some elbow grease and getting dirty so that the house can look clean, only to have your family come home and mess it up again.

But you know, that's not what it is at all to me. Doing a Home Blessing becomes a treat. It's home care. It's taking something from messy to organized. It's going from dirty to clean. It's a feeling of accomplishment and knowing I can do a good job. It's knowing that being a homemaker is real work and can be very satisfying.

I have a choice. I can do what I used to do. Whine about it. Get to a Monday morning and feel sorry for myself that the rest of the family can go off to work and school and leave me to take care of the clean-up.

Or I can set my own attitude. I can appreciate this lovely, charmed life I lead and be grateful I have a home, a family, laundry, carpets, wood floors, beds and dishes to care for. (There was a time when I had none of these!) Then I can make these possessions -- and me! -- shine.