Happy 40th Birthday Son

(1972) in a magical kingdom (Bend OR), in a magical forest (Dechutes National to be exact), in a glittering white castle on the crest of a crystal blue waterfall (In a tent in  a camp ground. Hey dad can remember it like he wants to and I can remember i the way I want!) Anyway, one evening, in that beautiful glittering white castle on the crest of the crystal blue waterfall, hey, it's my story, I'll tell it my way, the king  whispered in the queens ear and boom, February 24, 1973 their own "bundle of joy" was born!

Bundle of joy right from the start.

Good morning son! This week I've spent a lot of time thinking about this same  week 40 years ago. I remember how very cold it was. We were in Bend OR. Dad was working at Bend Mill Works, pulling green chain. That year we were so excited about your arrival I don't think we even noticed anything else. Your grandma came up in January to stay until you were born. The doctor said the end of January. I don't know if he miscalculated or you recalculated, but the end January came and went and no baby. My birthday came and went. No baby, Valentine's Day came and went and no baby. President's Day came and went. No baby. The doctor assured us that everything was fine. I was too young and dumb to even think that it could have possibly been a miscalculations. And besides, queens don't think about those things anyway. After all, in that century, teachers and doctors were infallible. If anyone had a mistake, it had to have been me. What had I done? What was wrong? Were you going to be okay? All day that Thursday, February 22, 1973, my lower back hurt. I kept rubbing it. I couldn't get comfortable. I twisted and turned when sitting. I walked, I twisted, as much as I could. I did everything. I didn't know what was wrong. Not once did I think about being in labor. I mean labor means you have pain in your belly right!? Queens don't have pain. It is not allowed. As I look back now I realize that should have been my first indicator that you were going to have a mind of your own!  The pains I'd been having in my lower back all day turned out to be contractions.

That IS a smile on your face.

Finally, early evening, we decided it was time to call dad at work. The pain was getting stronger and stronger and happened more frequently. Now when it snows in Bend. It snows! Feet and feet of snow. There were no cell phones or pagers either, so it meant we had to call the office and they had to send someone out to find dad and give him a message.

 It wasn't an easy time. You were so darn stubborn. Dad paced the hallway and prayed beside my bed. He was so scared. Grandma prayed and waited. There was some fear that you would be stillborn. But, you, you fooled them all and at 12:51 a.m., Saturday, February 24, 1973, there you were, all 7 lbs., 13 oz., and 21 inches of you. The doctor said they had damaged the nerve in your right eye with the forceps and that it would never close. He prescribed ointment that you would always have to put in your eye, the nurse showed us how to do it. But you know what? In five days time when we bundled you up to take you home, your eye was closing. Oh, why five days? Because you developed yellow jaundice and they had to keep you under a special light. The nurse tried to get me to go on home and come back in five days to get you. Ha! I came in with you and I wasn't leaving without you! No queen leaves in midst of trouble! Never!

Grandma had to go back to CA before you came home. Your uncle Dennis got married in January before you were born and your Auntie Di was getting married in March after you were born. Grandma had several very busy months that year!

Yup, mind of your own.

'til the day God took you home

Our lives changed forever that day! I was so frightened that first night. Dad had to go back to work and he worked the night shift, grandma was gone and so here I was with you alone. I was so afraid. I know queens aren't suppose to be afraid, but hey, this is my story and I was afraid. Let's not tell the king though. I was afraid that I wouldn't hear you wake up. I know, you're probably thinking the guards would hear right. Now really son, what's a guard, in all that cold noisy armor going to do? I mean really.  So, I hooked a string to the dogs tail so he's wake me up when he went to the door to have the guard let him out. (Actually, I set the alarm clock for 2 a.m) . It was the only night you slept the night through in months. Wouldn't you know it. I'm just telling you this so you will remember how much you were wanted and loved.The years with you were the happiest years the king and I have ever known. Even then, God had a plan.

Our Gain

by Jan Jamison

There were tears of joy
 and tears of pain (The queen doesn't really remember but the king says there was so it must be so!)

Tears of loss 
and tears of gain

There was more laughter than sadness

More joy and smiles

Than others will experience

In a century of miles (Did you ever consider that you lived between two centuries? The 20th & 21st?)

You lived every day

Not minding the next

Enjoying the moments

That meant so much

You brought much joy

To all you knew

You thought more of others

Than you did of you

You shared all you had

And some that you didn’t (A trait you inherited from the king!)

Your heart often broken

From a careless word spoken

You always went

The extra mile

Silently wishing (Well, not always silently. You inherited this from the queen.)

For that hidden smile

You held out and hoped

That all that you did

Would shine and show others

What God has to give

The time you had with us

Would have been 40 years today

We were so proud to be part

Of   God lead the way

We always thought

That we knew best (after all, we were king and queen)

But we have to tell you

Well always remember

What you use to say,

“God has a plan,

And we’ll do it His way”

Aaron Matthew Jamison

Happy birthday son. Love, "the king and queen"!

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom 

Yup! Life's a Struggle. LOL

Good morning son! So, how's the weather in heaven this morning? LOL Does the weather even change there? I doubt it, since heaven is a perfect place why wouldn't the weather be perfect all the time. But then again, everyone has their own idea of what perfect weather is now don't we. BUT, I don't think weather is something you even care about in heaven now is it? 

Aaron & Kristin, February 17, 2007

Today is a quiet day at home working in the studio and staying in to stay warm. Six years ago on this date things were quite a bit different. We had friends and family visiting from all across the United States and everything was in a frenzy. It was you and Kristin's wedding day. It was so great to share that day with friends and family. Dad and I have some great memories and we were so happy for you and Kristin. What a special time that was. I have never seen you happier or surer of yourself or what you were doing. The day was beautiful weather-wise and the ceremony was wonderful. Dad and I were so proud of you on that day and always. February is a very full month of memories and special days. Happy 6th Anniversary.

Valentine's Day has come and gone for 2013 and preparations for Easter have begun in our home. I pulled out my "Easter eggs", "carrots", and "chocolate bunnies" yesterday and began the decorating process. Today dad is going downstairs and bringing up the Easter tub. This will be the first year in several that I've decorated for Easter. I've missed it. More about that later. By the way, how WOULD I get your Easter basket t to you? LOL

Dad and I are working toward economizing in our home: more than usual.. I must say, Pinterest is making it quite simple. While shopping over the last several months we've noticed ,more than usual, we come home with less and less food in our bags but our costs stay just as high. When we come home and separate out food from cleaning supplies and toiletries there is very little groceries. Everyone is experiencing the same thing. Costs have just gone up. So, we're seeing what we can do to take the costs down.

For instance, yesterday dad asked me to pick up shampoo for Jamison. I had seen a dog shampoo recipe on Pinterest so looked it up. Simple. 

Dog Shampoo and Cleaner

Not only will your dog LOVE you after this quick DIY Dog Shampoo and Cleaner, but so will your wallet for it doesn’t get much better than this. Simply take 1 cup dish soap, 1 cup white vinegar and 1 quart of warm water and mix. Make sure that it’s all mixed up, and if you want to get fancy put in an old shampoo bottle, or just mix in with bath water for your dog and lather up that stinky puppy. Let it works it’s magic for about five minutes, then rinse and enjoy a clean, odorless dog!

It is the best we've ever used and for a couple of dollars made enough to last a year. Certainly beats $5/bottle! I love little tricks like this to save some bucks. You were always great at this.

 

I hit the Dollar Store yesterday, I was looking for core board to make dividers for my kitchen drawers, and came across flower seeds. As I told you, dad and I are starting our own seedlings this year. Flower seed packets  are 99 cents each. I bought them yesterday, 4/$1. How amazing is that! Bargains. I love bargains.

 

Liquid soap is another that we spend tons on each year. Guess what? Yup! It's simple to make for pennies a batch. Guess what I'm doing next week.

 

All this being said, it continue to amaze me how God continues to put people and things in our lives just when we need them the most. I know it might seem ridiculous to some to think about God being involved in things like Pinterest. I'm not saying God created it. I'm saying God directs us to the tools that make the most sense to us. Sure, I dream when I'm using it but I've found so many great shortcuts and recipes that are saving us quite a bit of money too. And for that, I'm very grateful. 

How long was it that I fought the idea of having a dog. Especially a dog in the house. But the Lord knew what we were going to need. Jamison was meant for our home and our lives. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I can't imaging our lives without him.

 

God's timing is perfect. Most of the time I would argue that even with myself, but I do really know it to be true. I am not a patient person but sometimes we end up in a situation when patience is the only answer. Sometimes we find ourselves in a place when there are no resources or means and patience and waiting is all there are. I think the growing comes in places such as these. I mean growth at any point for anything is not easy nor pain free. Think about what a tree has to endure in order to grow. First, it has to be dropped in the right soil. Then it's dependent on the heavens to unleash the rain so the seed can germinate . The hard ground to protect it from the weather and yet the struggle for it to break through so it can breath. The struggle making it stronger. The sun to warm it on it's way but having to be mindful  of the danger too much sun can bring; death. A balancing act to struggle to grow and to do it right so that life is enriched. To bear fruit. To yield that fruit to others so that other seeds can fall and join the struggle to preserve what God began.

 

Our lives are really much the same as the seed. We begin as a seed. We struggle to come into this world, gasping for breath and cry out to let the world know we are here. Just as the earth protects the seed, our family cares for and protects us while we journey through the time that we can care for ourselves. Some have more struggles than others. Most often as we grow and we look back over our lives we see how our struggles have made us stronger. We see how God has provided the tools in our life to make us strong. I really don't know how people who do not have God in their lives make it. It isn't as though He's just there. God has to be invited into our lives. He gave us this thing called "a will of our own". AA has a saying, "What doesn't kill you, will make you stronger". The older I get, the truer this becomes. 

 

As I sit here this morning, reflecting about my life and what it is right at this moment, I know I have the tools and the strength to do what ever it is that life brings. Because I have God in it. I don't know what life holds. I don't know what tomorrow holds. I do know that as grandma so often says, "this too shall pass". But, before it does, I want to make sure through this current struggle that I experience and learn while struggling and waiting so I come out as strong and wise as that seed that fell to the ground.

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom

 

The Little Blue Table

 So, here's the finished product. Want to see what I did? Want to see how? I hope so. I'm finally at a place in my life, at 64, that I can try some of the ideas I have collected over the years and have so wanted to try.

This week, in addition to salt dough Valentine ornaments, and Valentine trees, I updated a round side table that I purchased at a garage sale over 18 years ago.  Here's how I did it.

The oak table is about 24" in diameter. I first wiped the table down with a damp cloth. Lightly scuffed the surface with very light sandpaper and wiped down again with the damp cloth to removed any residue. I let it dry off for about 10 minutes and then I painted  it with a coat of Behr paint in my favorite shade of blue. The paint also includes the primer so I saved myself a complete step.

While the paint was drying, I pulled some old used books from my craft library. I wanted one where the pages were more ivory than white. I decided to use just the Chapter  pages. Lucky for me, the chapters were short, but there were plenty of them; 32 to be exact. I ripped the pages out along the binding edge. I wanted the edges rough and torn. If you want straight edges just slide an Xacto knife along the straight edge of a ruler or rip out and trim.

Once the table was dry I began the process of trying out different style of laying out the pages. I finally settled on a round layout with the chapter headings displayed around the edge of the table and an overlap of pages covering the center. Once I determined the layout I removed the pages, donned my gloves (I use tons of disposable latex gloves)  and coated the entire top, edge and edge underside of the table with a coat of a mixture of one part white glue and one part water,  shaken well. (My answer to "Mod Podge"). I then began laying the pages, one at a time, coating with a layer of my glue mixture. Working with my hands I smoothed the flat surface of the page, along the edge of the table carefully wrapping the top of the page to the underside of the table. Once the page was smooth and coated to my liking, I moved on to the next page, overlapping the pages so no tabletop showed through. It sounds laborious now that I'm walking through it, but it really didn't take that long. I wanted a "used" look so on a couple of small areas I added some extra glue mixture to really wet the spot and then pulled across the section with my finger. It left a "worn" area with the blue tabletop showing through. I like it. Once all the pages were securely "fastened" to the table, I literally poured a couple tablespoons of my glue mixture in the center of the table and worked it all around the table top, edge and underside edge of the table. Then, the rough part for me, I waited. Waited for it to dry. I touch-tested it after about five hours but it was still tacky so I waited for about another two hours. Completely dry! It was already about 7:30 pm so I decided to wait until the next day for the next step.

Just remember, if you try this, the more mixture you add, the longer it takes to dry and if you're not careful, the paper will easily tear where you don't want it to. Just take it slow and easy.

I intended to simply add a protective coat of polyurethane the following morning. But, as I stood looking at the table the next morning with my cup of coffee securely in my hand I knew it needed something else. I didn't quite know what so I spent some time researching and looking at different ideas. At first I though about  a single large flower in the center. I thought maybe it needed some color. Maybe just black? Suddenly I found a picture of a bird and I knew. I had the perfect stencil. Imagine that. I rummaged through my stencils and found what I was looking for. I grabbed up my black acrylic paint, dauber, stencil and adhesive. I knew I wanted it in the center of the table but I laid out the stencil where I imagined the image just to be sure. I put the adhesive on the back of the stencil, laid the stencil in the center of the table and gently rubbed the stencil so the paint wouldn't bleed under. I poured a small amount of paint out on a paper bag that was laying close at hand. I daubed my dauber in the paint and daubed around on the paper bag to avoid a "heavy load" when I began the stencil. Once I had completely covered the entire open area of the stencil I let it set for a few minutes. Just a few. It doesn't take long for acrylic craft paints to dry. Once dry, I carefully lifted the stencil from the table and voila', my image of my bird and branch was perfect!

The next step was to add a protective coating. Now I've been painting everything in sight since I was old enough to hold a brush and roller. I've always figured paint is a cheap fix and if you don't like it you can always add another color to cover it up. I tell you all this so you can have a good laugh when I tell you what I did next.

We live in Upstate NY. A blizzard was predicted and we had high winds so I knew doing the top coat outside was not an option,  and  being me,. I wanted to see the end results. Yes, you guessed it, I decided to lacquer the top indoors. Not the smartest thing I have ever done. It's 5 degrees outside and I have all the fans in the house on high and the front door open! I'm surprised the lacquer didn't self-ignite. It took most of the day for the odor to subside. In the meantime, I can only imagine what our utility bill is going to look like. I won't do that again. I thought one coat would be sufficient but alas, most of the first coat was absorbed into the paper even though it had many previous layers of my glue solution. It looks great, but I want sufficient lacquer coats so the use of coaster are not required on the table. So, when the sun shines again, and it will! And the winter winds and snow and ice rain are gone from this beautiful season called Winter, I will take the table outside and apply the extra coats needed. In the meantime, I'm enjoying my newly refurbished table each and every day.

Until next time, explore YOUR creative side. jan

Using The Talents We Have...we all have them!

As most of you who read my blog know, up to this point my blog has consisted of a weekly "conversation" with my son Aaron each Sunday. As his dad chooses to describe it, at 38 our son Aaron " transferred". He transferred from this earthly life to do what he always said he would do, be a jester in God's heavenly court. That's how I choose to think of him now; bringing joy in heaven just as he did here on earth. Do I miss him? Evey single moment of every single day! I cannot look at his picture without tears welling in my eyes. Does it hurt? Yes! Do I understand? No! Would I want him back? No. Does that shock you? Me too. But, I know God has a plan, I may not like it, but I will do it. My son taught me that. That being said, I've decided to expand my blog and do more writing. I think I will always have my  Sunday "conversations" with my son but I want to write more, share more and do more. 

Broadening the scope of my blog has been my  hubby's suggestion. At first I just poo-pooed it but then as I thought about it the last couple of days, I thought, why not? I know that many bloggers have specific ideas to share: food, crafts, photos, etc. I think I'm going to stick with an "eclectic" blog. Just like our home. I love a wide variety of decor, art, food, and crafts. In fact sometimes my interests are so eclectic I get confused about what to do next. That being said, I still manage to get things done and have a ball doing it. So, there are no guarantees about what you'll find on my blog each time I write with the expectation that we'll have fun, be creative, share knowledge and ideas, and our endeavors will absolutely be eclectic.

 Let's get started!

 

I know everyone has heard about Pinterest right? Sometimes as I peruse the boards on Pinterest I am totally amazed at how very clever and smart people are. I look at the ideas others  have posted and think, "Now why didn't I think of that"! Whether or not you have a creative bone in your body, I encourage you to check it out. If you want a better idea of what I will be doing, my eclectic  likes and loves, I would love for you to share your thoughts and comments with me as I progress along. Please fee free. Now, that all being said, I'd like to share my current endeavor, A Valentine Tree in progress.

I thought that since it was February, Valentine decor would be a great place to start.  My goodness, the ideas. It never ceases to amaze me at the creativity that lives within people. If you think your are not creative I challenge you to give it another try. If you don't have an idea of your own, begin with someone elses. I'm sure they won't mind!

As I perused the Valentine ideas I came across one where a mother and daughter decided to make salt dough Valentine necklaces. Salt dough! I hadn't thought about that in years.

Valentine Necklaces

I've taken their idea of Valentine's Day Jewelry and salt dough and, as always in my eclectic way, put my own spin on it. 

Salt Dough

1 Cup salt (table salt works great)

2 Cups flour (I used Walmart's  Great Value white flour.)

1 Cup water 

Mix it up. I did it with my hands. It mixed very easily. I broke it out in four sections because I thought it would be easier to roll out.  I rolled it out to about 1/4 inch and cut out the hearts with heart-shaped cookie cutters and baked them on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees for 2 hours.

The first batch of hearts I

My "Partner in crime" painting her heart

rolled the dough out, cut my hearts and just before popping them in the oven for 2 hours at 200 degrees, I made a hole at the top, center of the heart with a 1/4 dowel I had on hand. If you don't have a dowel handy you can use a straw, ice pick or similar item. What I found though, is once baked, the hole was smaller than I had thought and my partner in crime Josie, whose now 5, and I had difficulty adding a ribbon to make the necklace. Later that day I noticed a small "eye" laying on the floor that had dropped out of my picture hanging kit. As I picked it up I thought that would be the perfect solution to use on the necklaces for the ribbon to pass through. I could just insert it into the dough ornament prior to baking. But, to use as many as I needed would be cost prohibitive. 

The one on the right is my version

So, I came up with my own solution. I had both silver and gold very fine wire. I cut off about a 1" section. I curved the wire and holding the curve between my thumb and index finger of my right hand, with my left hand I crossed the ends making an "X". Still holding the round end of the wire and continuing with my left hand I twisted the "X" into one swirled wire end. I then inserted the straight end at the center of the top of the heart pushing it all the way down until just the hoop was showing. The other thing I did when inserting the loop was  I turned it so that when I put the ribbon through the loop the necklace and ribbon will lay flat. Here, I'll show you.


Here are some horrible pictures of the "eye" process. Please excuse the photography. I'm trying to hold the wire in my right hand and take pictures with my left hand. I am definitely NOT left handed. I hope you get the idea. 

Very fine wire and wire cutters. Scissors will work on this wire too but will dull scissors.

Cut about a 1" piece of wire or, longer or shorter depending on how large or small you want your "eye" to be.

Curve your 1" piece of wire so it looks like a horseshoe.

Cross the legs of the horseshoe and twist.

You should end up with an "eye" that resembles this.

My first attempt

At first, I began painting the hearts with acrylic paints, just like Josie except I didn't use 5, 4oz bottles of 5 different colors on one heart! I hope she didn't fall in love with the color she created because there is no way we could ever duplicate it! It was a beautiful heart thought. Just like hers.

 I painted a few in pinks and reds and as I sat there looking at them I thought to myself, you really should jazz these up a little. I mean the person we're making these for has glitter in her veins! So,once the paint dried, I added a coat of Mod Podge. I make my own of equal parts white Elmer's Glue and water. While the "mod podge" was still wet,  I "dipped" them in a bowl of glitter. Just like you would do if you're making a cookie and the recipe says "roll in sugar". I used very fine white glitter and it did make them sparkle. They still needed more. They were too bland for my liking. That's when the light bulb went off in my head. I scrambled through my papers and art supplies and found some old wrapping paper, very thin because it was cheap. It was in a flowered print of reds and yellows. Perfect! I tore up small pieces, donned the latex gloves and began. I coated another heart, including and especially the edges. I then took the small pieces of torn paper and one at a time coated heart with mod podge under and over each piece of paper until I had covered the entire heart. I then coated the entire heart with a coat of mod podge and rubbed it over the entire surface of the heart with my hands working out any folds or creased that may have appeared during the process until they were as flat as I could get them. Make sure to work the edges so that everything is coated and no edges standing out. I let them dry overnight and then gave them all a spray coat of Krylon gloss spray. Once dry I added the ribbon and viole' a Valentine necklace. Later, I also made some pins by adding a pin clasp I had from some old projects. I gave these to Josie to give to friends and teachers for Valentine's day. To make ornaments for our Valentine Tree we will simply shorten the length of the ribbon.

I also made larger and smaller hearts that I will make into other Valentine decor. You can glue these little gems to picture frames, cards, make door "wreaths" for the special day. My thinking is, hearts are great anytime!  If  it would be helpful to have to have additional details of of my process just let me know. Or, if I need to clarify anything. The entire process should be fun for any age. Enjoy!...and let me know how your hearts turned out.

And here is our Valentine tree!

 Here's another version of a Valentine tree I completed yesterday. I took a branch from our yard. Painted it with white spray paint. I used Krylon Gloss White. While that was drying I scrounged in my supplies and found various sized wooden hearts. I think I had paid about $4.00 for the bag of 50. I found a string of very small pearls that I'd purchased at Joann's several years ago in the $1 bin. I painted my hearts in shades of raspberry, aqua and mustard, (I used colors that coordinate with my living room but you can use any color you like) added some stickers of cute little fairies I had on hand. Hot glued a 5-6" strand of the pearls in a loop at the top of the heart and my ornaments were ready. I hot glued a 4' square of floral Styrofoam to the bottom of a vase. By now, the paint on my branch was dry. I pushed it firmly down into the Styrofoam, added about a dozen white silk roses I had on hand from the dollar store around the base of the tree, added the hearts to the branches and voila', my Valentine tree. This project took me about 2 hours. You still have plenty of time. Start creating!

Here's my two hour Valentine tree!

We're Not Always What We Appear

Good morning son!  I was just checking my email and found a Google reminder that your birthday is coming. Holy cow! Like could forget that after 38 hours in labor. I can hear you laughing. I can hear our conversation begin just like it did every year about this time. Now, how long was the labor mom? And off we'd go. Today is your Uncle Dennis' birthday. Let's see, I think he's 60 years old today. Wow. My age always sounds right but when I say my brother is 60 that sounds really weird.Seems as though we have a lot of family and friends birthdays in the month of February.

The blizzard we were expecting this week that was going to leave us in 24 inches of snow ended up to being pretty mild here at home and left us with about 6.5 inches of snow. However, that's just enough to about bury Jamison when he's out in it. And he does love the snow. He runs and jumps. It's so funny to see him jump up out of the snow, disappear and then be in mid-air again. And no matter how hard you try you can't keep him out of it. When he and dad come back from their walk I have to put him in the tub and melt the icicles from his belly, legs, feet and beard. He loves that.l

Josie and I finished our Valentine Tree for Jon & Corey last night. She was so proud as she carried it through the house and gave it to her mama. We had a great time over the last couple of weeks making hearts to hang on the tree. I liked it so much on the mantle that I'm making one for me. I'm going to make hearts in the colors of our living room, blue, raspberry and yellow.  For Easter, I'll leave the hearts and add "eggs" and "chocolate" rabbits.

 It's a beautiful sunny day today and the sun is shining off the snow.It's a beautiful scene out our living room window this morning. It's warmed up to 16 degrees and is expected to be a high of 32 today. From here it looks warm and sunny. I guess it's really true that "looks can be deceiving". Life is that way most of the time I think. People too. It's so easy to look at someone and make a judgement that based on what we see on the outside defines what they're feeling on the inside. It can be pretty simple to look at someone, see a smile on their face and hear them laugh and think that they're just great. That's not always the case. We have great skills as humans to mask what we're really feeling. I wonder why we do that? Why is it that we humans feel the need to mask our true feelings? We've all done it. For me, it's because I don't want anyone else to have to deal with the same pain. I don't want to add the burden to someone elses life. Life is complicated enough on it's own. I know, I know. I don't feel that way when someone wants to share with me. I want them to share. I want them to share so I can help if possible. So I can pray for them or with them. It's not because I'm a greater person than someone else. I just know there's always more to a person than what I see on the outside. We are complicated souls.  It's just who I am. I know I'm rambling. Just bare with me while I talk this out with you. Dad thinks it's because I have the gift of mercy. Ha! I do have the gift of service, but mercy, I don't think so.

 Anyway, back to my question at hand. I guess what I'm really saying is that we can never know what is really going on inside a person based on what we see on the outside. I know that's not a revelation for most. I've been taught that my entire life. I guess I didn't really ever think about it applying to me. You know that I've always said, "With me, what you see is what you get". What I've come to realize lately though is that's not necessarily true. Right now anyway. I manage to keep a smile on my face and laughter going but most of the time, it's only on the outside. I do it because I think it's the right thing to do. But is it?  What are the consequences for me, for those around me?. I don't have all the answers. I know, that's hard for your to believe. Just take my word for it. The older I get, the less I seem to know. 

This is new emotional experience for me. I'm so use to being the "Pollyanna" inside and out that to feel differently on the inside than I'm showing on the outside feels weird. If it is part of the grieving process, and I do believe it is, then I know, as grandma says, "this too shall pass". I know it has renewed in me a well-learned principal; to accept people for who they are knowing that that's not all they are. 

As I travel this journey God has chosen for me to experience I will continue to look for those gems shining along the way. Whether they be old or new I know God puts them on my path for a reason. I know I may never know the reason. Sometimes I'm okay with that sometimes not. But, I will ALWAYS pick them up, shine them up and carry them with me.  When I meet someone along the way that needs the same gem I can share mine.

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom

























 

Laughter, A Good Beginning for Any Day

Reminds me of someone I know!

Good morning son! It's a beautiful morning here at home....freezing cold at 17 degrees, but beautiful. The sun is shining and the wind is quiet.

Aaron

I can "talk" with you for about an hour and then I'm headed out to coffee at Starbucks with Chelly, Sabra and Corey. We can continue when I get back....and with them, your guess is as good as mine!

Dad and I are going to have birthday cake with the Troy 9 this afternoon and then be back for the Super Bowl at 6:30. We're going to try a new recipe for dinner by layering the nachos and baking them. Who would have thought? Layering nachos. I'll let you know how they turn out.

It's been freezing cold here and the artic wind makes it almost impossible to enjoy being outside. Dad and Jamison remain faithful to their walk everyday but because of the cold and wind they are only walking about half their time. Your dad looks like the little boy in "Christmas Story". He's so bundled up that he couldn't hurt himself if he fell but then again, he couldn't get back up either. Jamison is in his long winter coat and two sweaters but by the time he gets back his little feet are frozen. He will not leave his winter boots on. We've tried everything. So, dad brings him home and I run some tepid water in the shower and i rinse his feet and legs...and belly, off and to warm him up. He loves it. He comes right in from the back door and goes right to the bathroom.

I'm expanding out on my blog somewhat. Dad has been encouraging me for months now to write more often that just our Sunday conversation. I'm simply going to be sharing what I'm doing in my studio at the time; sharing the process and encouraging others to find and use their creative side. We ALL have one! Your grandma use to tell me that she just wasn't creative and yet I saw it in everything she did.Long before any of us began re-purposing things, grandma was doing it in her own home. Not because she thought it was "cool", but because she had to. She set a great example and I still find joy in finding ways to re-purpose my "finds". 

Speaking of laughter and joy, I just spent 2 hours with some of the funniest women on earth. I do so miss the laughter of girl friends. Guess I'd best get busy and make more of those here in Troy. What an amazing healing effect joy and laughter can have on our lives. And to think it's all around us every day. What a waste not to enjoy it. As you know, I love a good laugh. We use to have some of the most awesome times, you, dad and I, laughing over the silliest things. Sometimes I think laughing over silly things are the best type of laughter. Many have said, and I concur, God must have the keenness sense of humor of us all. I mean, like I've said before, all I have to do is look in the mirror. I mean if you really think about how we're made you have to laugh. For crying out loud, we're full of holes and basically made of water. It's a wonder we don't leak all over ourselves all day. Well, I guess some of us do come to think of it!  

Me too!

I am so glad God gave us the ability to laugh. What a boring world this would be if we couldn't. Laughter has an amazing ability to heal the mind and the soul. It makes us tingle inside, get goose bumps, feel warm and cozy, it has the ability to sooth and calm, to make us  want to jump up and down until we can't catch our breath. Who could imagine that something as simple as making someone laugh could do all that. Or, that doing that could do the same for you. I think laughter should be the first thing we do every morning and the last thing we do every night. It should be sown in the world like wildflower seeds. I just wonder how many ailments would disappear  if someone spent more time laughing. And the feel of it. Just think about the last time you really had a bout of laughter that took your breath away. I mean you were laughing so hard that the tears ran down your cheeks and probably your leg. If you can't remember that last time, then it's been too long.  

 Laughter is returning to our home. It seems as though it's been a long time coming but it's returning. A very wise woman told me this morning that when you loose someone. (That's really a horrible description. I didn't "loose you". You died.) Anyway, this very wise woman said that the process of dealing with death is a sever year process. Well, heck. If I have 5 1/2 more years of this I'm going to have to find more reasons to laugh. It's not like I have to look very far. Like I said, I can start with the first image I see every morning and just think about God putting me together. I can't begin to know what's on God's mind, but I can sure imagine what it would be like if I were doing it. I mean what do you think about when you think about God creating  the human? I know He intended one thing and got another that's for certain. And being God, I know that He already knew what we were going to do because He gave us free will and being God, He knew we were going to use it. And we did and do!  So, as we talk about free will we have to admit that laughter is a choice, just like everything else in our lives. So we can choose to laugh just like we can choose joy. Sounds like good choices to me. 

I want to be this person.

Having just had a birthday, my 64th, what I see when I look in the mirror is a woman who loves life and knows that God loves her. I see in the mirror a woman who looks older on the outside than she feels on the inside.  Grandma says that's because our bodies get older but our spirit stays young. I like that. I see a woman that has blemishes, definitely needs an eyebrow cleanup, looks better with make-up but seldom adds it with the exception of lipstick. A woman whose bottom teeth are crooked but they work just fine and they're all mine. A woman whose didn't think she had enough holes in her body already so she added more in her ear lobes in hopes that the sparkle added to the ear lobe would only accent what God had already given her. I see a woman whose eyes, although her vision isn't great, have a sparkle to them that her husband loves. I see a woman who may not be perfect  but knows that God has given her a heart that requires she give and share and for that she is ever grateful. I see a woman who was created in God's image and was created for His glory. I see a happy woman, that although circumstances can interfere temporarily, in the end....her love of laughter will win.


Until next week, be Aaron, love mom