One Little Word for 2012

Many of my regular followers are familiar with Ali Edward's One Little Word.  She suggests you identify one word that can be your guiding light for the year.  Similar to a new year's resolution, but different in that it leaves things open for whatever might add to your life experience.  As Ali E says, it "...can be a powerful thing.  It can be a ripple in a pond that changes everything.  It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow."  Sometimes the word picks you instead of you picking the word.

This is the fourth year I've identified a word that I would be my mantra for the year. My words have been Simplify (2011), Serenity (2010), and Gratitude (2009). 

For 2012, my word is  

Truth

1.  sincerity in action, character and utterance

2.  conformity with fact or reality; verity

3.  a verified or indiputable fact, principle, proposition or the like

And it chose me.  As I was driving.  Talking to myself.  Asking questions about others' actions and then I turned it around and asked about my own actions.  And I realized that what I need in my life right now is for me to be honest with myself.  I need to take ownership of things for which I previously blamed (oh, how I dislike that word) others. 

I need to discover and embrace the truth about my relationships.  About weight loss.  About exercise.  About healthy eating.  About homemaking.  About time management. 

I need to be truthful with myself.  And I will not allow myself to believe what Jack Nicholson says...

Oh, yes I can.  Oh, yes I will.  I can't say this will be easy.  I'm a little anxious on moving forward with this.  But I see that as a good thing.  Being anxious heightens awareness.  And then...

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered. 

The point is to discover them - Galileo

And so the journey begins. 

I'd love to know if you have a word for 2012.  Feel free to share in the comments or to post a link to your blog.  C'mon...what's YOUR word?

"The Look"

As we were growing up, my siblings and I knew "the look" we would get from my mother if we were stepping out of line.  Many of you know about "the look".  Without a word being spoken, while your mother is at the other side of a room, your eyes meet hers and BAM!!  You know if you continue to do what you are doing, you are in BIG trouble. 

I swore I would never use it on my kids.  HA!!!  So much for promises made to yourself when you are 12 years old.  Yes, my kids will tell you that I used "the look" on occasion.  And I can tell that my eldest grandson experiences "the look" from either mom or dad or both, because I catch him occasionally looking up to "take a reading". 

I love how our eyes tell so much.  I love looking at pictures to see whether the eyes match the mouth in what's being told in the photo.  C'mon...you know what I mean!  Smilin' eyes!!  And how disturbing is it when the eyes don't match the mouth?

But the reason I tell you this is because I wanted to share with you my experience when I received the best Christmas present a grandma could get.  I received a gift card for a date at Make a Messterpiece with my 4 1/2 year old grandson.  But it wasn't the gift card that was the best gift.  It was this gift bag, handed to me with a special look.  A look that told me I was going to L-O-V-E what was inside. A look that exuded confidence in how perfect this gift was for me.

In actuality, I loved that he wrote all of this on the bag.  You see, I will scrapbook this.  I will take pictures of my date with him, of his Messterpiece, of our time together and I will scrap those pics right next to this bag.  And I will melt each time I see it. 

I am certain that I am the luckiest grandma in the whole wide world. 

Christmas Wishes 2011

From my home to yours, may your Christmas be filled with joy and peace, may you enjoy your time with those you love, and may you know how grateful I am to call you "friend".

Merry Christmas!!

Insane Courage

Have you seen any movie trailers for "We Bought a Zoo"?  First of all, gotta love Matt Damon and that smile!!!  But he says one line that just blew me away.  It's a quote that grabbed my heart immediately.  All I could think about was, I've GOT to share this with my blog buddies!!  Ready?? 

"All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and

I promise you something great will come of it." 

Think about that for a minute.  You can plan and dream and wonder and plan and when it gets right down to it, it's the 20 seconds you spend telling yourself you are moving forward with your dream that involves the insane courage.  Everything that follows is just support, whether it's self support or support from others.  I LOVE this quote.  Can't wait to see the movie.

Hope your holiday planning is coming along at a non-stressful pace. 

Dear Online Retailers:

I'm really quite impressed with some of your amazing deals this season.  Really some great pricing.  I can see where you are trying to get your fair share of my Christmas budget.

However, I'm very aware of how much you are charging me for shipping.  And if I think it's unreasonable, you aren't getting my business.

That's the bottom line. 

Sincerely,
A Smart Shopper

The ABC's of Thanksgiving

If the only prayer you said in your whole life
was "thank you", that would suffice. 

- Meister Eckhart

Wishing you a restful day, filled with family and friends and good food and fun.  And here's my ABC's of Thanksgiving.  Since I wasn't able to come up with all of them on my own, I enlisted the help of my grandson, Cormick.  He's quite helpful when it comes to ABC's. 

Abundance & Appreciation
Bread (homemade) & Broccoli Casserole & Butternut Squash & Bailey's
Cranberries & Corn & Celebration
Desserts & Dressing (thinking of my Texas family)
Everyone gathers together & Early June Peas (that's for you, Jerry)
Family & Friends & Feast
Gratitude & Gravy & Green Bean Casserole
Happy Thanksgiving & Healthy Living
Inspiration
Jams & Jellies
Kin & Killing animals for food (thank you for this one, Cormick!)
Living (not just existing)
Mashed Potatoes
Nuts (family and otherwise)
Orange leaves & Orange candles
Pumpkin Pie
Quail (for some, not for me)
Roasted corn
Sweet Potatoes & Stuffing
Thanks & Turkey
Unity
Venison (not in our family, but at the first Thanksgiving, according to Cormick)
Whoopie pies (my new pumpkin favorite) & Wine
Xcited to be with family (don't judge me. I challenge you to come up with something better??)
Yams
Zzzzz (once the L-Tryptophan kicks in)

Thanksgiving day comes, by statute, once a year; 

to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.

- Edward Sandford Martin

Are You Prepared to be Wrong?

Are you familiar with TED?  It's a non-profit that is dedicated to spreading ideas.  (When it first started, the focus was on Technology, Entertainment, and Design).  Their mission is to spread ideas.  It's grown.  It covers just about any subject you are interested in.  Check it out at http://www.ted.com/. Most are very entertaining and usually funny.

Lately, I've been sort of hooked on watching the videos regarding education.  My daughter and I have had a number of discussions on how best to educate her kids.  Although she's an elementary school teacher, she finds that she's exploring ideas on alternative options for her own kids.  I like that she's open minded enough to consider different things. 

Anyway, these TED presenters usually present for 20 mins.  The latest one I found was Sir Ken Robinson. 

In this particular discussion in 2006, he talks about how kids aren't afraid of taking risks.  They aren't afraid of being wrong.  And what he says is, "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."  And when we get to adulthood, we have grown to be afraid of being wrong.  So companies are run that way.  And now education is becoming that way.  Largely, in part, due to legislators who decide that certain test scores are required to prove that a school is doing its job.  So teachers and schools teach to tests instead of teaching to interests. 

Sir Ken talks about how having a degree now isn't necessarily what it meant 10, 15, 20 years ago.  It used to mean that if you had a degree, you had a job.  Not anymore.  We know there are plenty of kids who graduate with B.A.'s and M.A's and have to live with the parents because they can't find a job.  And by then, creativity has been taught right out of them. 

Now, I'm not saying that school isn't necessary.  It is.  But what we should never forget is that creativity is necessary, too.  If you have ever interacted with a 4 year old with a crayon in his/her hand, you'll know the discussion about "coloring within the lines".  And no doubt you know and/or pondered the controversy about it.

I am one of those people who cringe whenever I hear the proclamation, "We've always done it that way."  No doubt uttered by those who are just to afraid to be wrong.  How about you?  Are you prepared to be wrong?

A Smile for Today

What's not to love about this smile?  Contagious, isn't it??

So many languages in the world, and a smile speaks them all. 
(Author unknown)

Halloween - Revisited!

Last night, I got to experience Halloween thru the joys of a 4 year old.  THIS is what Halloween is all about.  Mom and kids went door to door with neighbor kids and I stayed back at their place to hand out treats.  Here's a good place to note that everyone who came to the door was dressed in costume, nobody over the age of 15 showed up, and most were very courteous.  Parents waited at the end of the driveway, waved and said thank you as well.  How VERY refreshing to experience this blast from the past!!  SO different from my neighborhood experiences.

Anyway, by the time Spiderman got back from his door to door escapade, Daddy was home.  Daddy and I got to witness the biggest grin (seriously, ear to ear) and the best story about what it was like going out trick or treating.  Oh, to have had the video camera ready.  But that might have ruined the moment.  Thankfully, it's burned in my memory. 

"And Grandma, some people said,
'take one' and some people said,
'take two pieces'". 

Break me off a piece of that
Kit Kat bar.

Even Wonder Woman needs
a little snuggling!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.  And yes, Peggy, there is a fun part of Halloween.  And I got a glimpse of it again, with my two little super heroes!!

Hello, It's Me...(cue Todd Rundgren)

Yes, I've been quite absent lately.  Too many irons in the fire.  Not that I haven't been busy creating!  I have been.  And as I've said in the past, when I ramp up on one creative thing, another one gets temporarily tossed aside. 
Things like cardmaking (40 shower invitations for my niece's wedding shower).  I like that this doesn't look like your typical wedding shower card.  Thanks to my younger sister, we got these done in a day once they were colored!

And working in my Soulbook that we started at the Scrap Cellar.  This is a book that is good to pick up whenever you start doubting your self worth, or when you lack the courage to take on something totally new.  It has statements in the book that truly speak to your soul.  That truly make you aware of how awesome you really are.  Anyway, the goal was to finish by the next time we got together.  And that time is coming fast!  We used old boxes, lots of masking tape, and acrylic paint to create this baby.  Then added our "speak to the soul" statements.  Here are some of the pages I created. 

And then there was this fun page I did in my soulbook to prove to myself that I really do have some artistic talent.  One of my colleagues at work has this beautiful sweater.  She walked in one day and I asked if I could take a picture of it, because it inspired me so.  Here's the back of the sweater:

And here's what I painted in my soulbook.

And here's just a glimpse of one of the handmade gifts for my niece.  Can't show you the whole thing, though.  Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.

Oh, and I put together a slide show with music for my girlfriend's husband.  It was his 50th birthday. 

These are some of the things that have kept me busy enough to not be able to have a solid idea of what to blog about.  I figure now that these are done, maybe I can get back to giving you a little piece of my mind occasionally.  (Not that I can afford to give it away!!)

Anyway, this Halloween edition finds me once again proclaiming to you that I'm not a fan.  Not at all.  The only true joy I get from this holiday is that I love to see how my grandkids dress up.  But the candy thing...not so much.  The Cellar Chicks laugh at me because I call it a "beggar holiday".  Seriously folks, here's the scenario:  Adult at my door not dressed in costume, holding a bag out for candy, and when I ask who it's for, they point to the 6-month-old in the stroller.  A 6-month old!!  Yes, I'm serious!!

Monday evening, while my neighbors stay at home and hand out candy to those 6 month old, candy craving infants, I will be headed to my daughter's where I get to party with two SuperHeroes!!  Spiderman and Wonder Woman!  Pictures will follow, to be sure!

Oh, and one more thing before I go...My friend, Leanne over at From Chaos Comes Happiness has opened an Etsy shop with canvasses, prints, bookmarks and greeting cards. Many of the items feature Annalee, a character Leanne has developed.  (I swear this is Leanne's alter-ego.)  She's also got a line called Random Thoughts From Chaos that have beautiful, inspirational thoughts.  Check it out.  Let Leanne know I sent you.  (I LOVE hearing her voice when she calls all excited that someone I know purchased from her shop).

Okay, I'll try to show up a little more often here.  Have a happy Halloween!