What do you want for Christmas?

Please don't tell me world peace. We'd all have that if we could, i hope anyway.
So what is your heart yearning for this year?

Is it a MP3 player now that you've bought them for the kids (last year)?
How about the big screen t.v.?
Is it fruitcake that makes your mouth water?
Did you get the camera/phone/MP3 combination yet?
Freshly baked cookies and cakes are sounding pretty good right now.
Each year one of my friends and I talk of escaping to some exotic location and skip the whole thing. Could be fun? I am picturing Javier putting suntan lotion on my alabaster skin ....Oh, sorry I got carried away.

I usually yearn for something that I could not or would not purchase myself. Now I look forward to just spending time with the people closest to me and having a cocktail to celebrate another year of success, love and friendships.

Imitation is the sincerest form.....

Justrose and Lori had this idea on their site, and i got to thinking about the things I'd done in my life. What remarkable things have you all done? Like Rose I have highlighted some and have edited many. Please add your own to the list.
01. Touched a live shark.
02. Went climbing in the blue ridge/smoky mountains.
03. Driven as fast as I could...
04. Appeared on t.v.
05. Modeled clothing.
06. Competed in a pageant.
07. Bathed by candlelight with someone.
08. Said "I love you" and meant it.
09. Planted trees, too many to count.
10. Written poetry
11. Captained a boat.
12. Help to raise a sail on a schooner.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Made my own clothes.
15. Gone to Live 8 concert.
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
17. Grown and eaten my own vegetables.
18. Made homemade jams and pickles.
19. Slept under the stars on a boat.
20. Spent the holidays doing charitable work for others in need.
21. Rode a pony.
22. Won a trip to Washington D.C. as a teenager.
23. Wore a mini shirt
24. Went topless at the beach
25. Picked up and move to another city to start over
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Buried one or more of your parents
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a piglet
33. Broken a bone.
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking.
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Driven with a friend on the beach
40. Been heartbroken longer than you were in love.
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Broke someones heart
44. Alphabetized your CD's
45. Bought a house
46. Lounged in bed on a rainy day.
48. Made a patchwork quilt.
49. Wrote a story about my Grandparents, for my siblings and nieces.
50. Played touch football.
51. Hit a home run.
52. Bat left or right handed.
53. Played golf.
54. Held hands and walked in the rain.
55. Saw Bruce Springsteen perform live. WOW!
56. Gone to a drive-in movie
57. Started my own business
58. Voted as "Ms. Friendship" in a contest.
59. Learned a second language, but forgot most of it.
60. Baited my own hook and removed the fish afterwards.
61. Met Muhammad Ali
62. Met Joe Frasier
63. Was on the beach during the running scene from Rocky 3.
64. Been visited by Cancer.
65. Believe I saw a ghost.
66. Tried sushi
67. Eaten seaweed.
68. Gone back to school as an adult.
69. Touched a cockroach
70. Eaten fried green tomatoes.
71. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
72. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
73. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
74. Had a booth at a street/craft fair
75. Voted best smile in high school(tied and opted out).
76. Wore hot pants and knee high boots.
77. Traveled along the east coast from Maine to Florida.
78. Chose to take the hard way just to be authentic!
79. Been a mentor, twice.
80. Leader of a 4H Club.
81. Taught knitting and crocheting to others.
82. Made wedding bouquets and floral arrangements by request
83. Canned my own tomatoes, pickles, etc.

Thankful ll

Something else that I am thankful for today is simply a day off from work. Not for doctor's appointments, repairmen or anything else. The sun is shining and the weather mild. Must get out for a walk today. Ferris Bueller had his day off and now I am having one of my own.
I have been in a creative mode and believe me I am having fun making things for gift giving. In searching through my supplies for white fabric I found a quilt top that I started one or two years ago that needs finishing. Made something similar last week. One has a children's theme and the other a tree pattern or my own creation. Never the less I am wrapped up in sewing at this time. This rarity will probably not happened again for another twelve months or more. Hated to learn to sew as a kid. Thanks Mom for insisting.
Funny though I am not motivated to decorate and put up a tree. I am probably a decorator at heart, maybe in a past life.
Speaking of being creative I was tempted to purchase the TSV on QVC. A dream for the handy man or woodworker. Whats next? While I do not share the gifts of prose and poetry of some favorite bloggers and I don't have the humor of Pax Romano. I'm not interested in politics like Karl and Patsy. I will say that I thought the war in Iraq was a mistake from the beginning. Thats all the politics you'll get from me today. I have some talents of my own and they are calling me to get back to work. Who knows what is next? Peace and love in all you do my friends.

Something to be Thankful For...

Yesterday I had the roofing contractor return as the guys broke a pipe that vented through the roof. It was after eleven when this hunky workman arrived. He needed only twenty minutes to make the repair and the roof was good as new. What was new was his accent that overshadowed his attempts at English. Vincent it turns out was from Brazil. His accent was as thick as his shoulders probably from carring roofing materials up ladders. I did not ask, but wondered what would bring someone from such a warm climate to the cold fall days of NJ. My only interest was to put to rest the roof repair and replacement.

So the point, I am thankfull that the roof is complete. That all of your well wishes came true. It was not as bad as I imagined. Only two and a half sheets of plywood had to be replaced. Watching home improvment shows last week had me imagining that it was badly rotten. That thought was not a figment of my furtile imagination but a seed planted by one roof contractor who predicted the worse. Thank God he was wrong. I am going to try to learn a lesson here. In a voyage of self discovery toward authenticity, there are nothing but lessons to be learned. Now I can put a lid on the stress of waiting and wondering. There is much to be thankful for.

Prjoect Cover Up - II

Well, he's not making a good impression. 8 am sharp has come and gone on day 2. In fairness he called said a worker was running late. At 9:40 , still no roofer. I called said I was anxious to get started and planned to go to work by lunch. It's 11:17, no call, no show. Not a good start. I just want to get this over with. The sun is shining and its beautiful out, here's I' m hoping for the best.

The Big Cover Up

A five day weekend seemed like just the thing to cure my ills. Seems that I'll need another day off. Oh, dear what a shame. I might try to take a photo of the before version. But I don't have a digital camera to share with all fo you.

Well, today is a big day. What you ask? After saving and stress, stalls and stalemate a new roof is scheduled to go up today, unless it rains again. Seems its been raining alot since finding the urgent need for a complete roof replacement. One estimator scared the h--- out of me when informed me of the anticipated extent of the damage. He had not even opened the roof yet. How long had it been this way? Why did I not get the full story ? On and on, as panic moved in as my good common sense took a back seat. My overactive imagination began to wonder what else was lerking that I did not know about. Did I want to know anymore?

Hopefully today's weather is as nice as Friday and Saturday. Could we have had better fall days?

I'm trying to look on the bright side and I am not talking of the view from the sky light. If things go well this project will be complete in a few days. If not get my room ready at the big house. I'll need a special case manager. I hope that the master carpenter in my family will be watching, supervising and be a guardian angel as I take this leap of faith. It will all be finished soon and prayerfully there are no more hidden suprises. Wish me well. Peace and love to all.

The broken path to Boca

My friends Saul & Sylvia are checking out of this cool weather and checking in at the Feinstein compound in Boca, Fla. I am sworn to secrecy about the location as the hundreds of regular customers of Saul's Soles will be calling Saul asking for new styles in time for the holidays. Sylvia is a little worried about Saul, he's been taking a lot fo time off these days. Usually he'd stay at home in Philadelphia to mind the store on Chestnut St. Not this year, Sylvia said she'd have to give up her passion for shopping and spas for canasta and fun with Saul. I cannot beleive she agreed. Every since he found Viagra, Sylvia found........, well you can imagine for yourself. A good woman doesn't talk about such things. There is that one meschugana that calls for Saul in the middle of the night and Sylvia is a little worried. Only her closest friends can see the truth. Oye, but I'm not one to gossip. Did I tell ya about her sister Liza, always on the move that one...More later, Molly is her and we're off to the casinos to meet Liza and her new husband. She must be up to four or five by now. We'll chat later.........Maybe Saul will give a call from
Boca to check in and see how things are going there. I'm sure his aching back is enjoying the warmth of only a loving wife and the massuse in Boca can't hurt either.

INDIGO MOON

I was eager to attend a concert under the stars. After all, it was free and there are few things better that good music and great friends. The band, Grey Eyed Glances was one that I'd seen before at an all day folk concert held on mowed pasture fields in Southern NJ. Their ballads werre laced with folk melodies and soft rock sounds, but the angelic voice was what impressed me. It was reminiscent of an old Irish lullaby.

On that Indian summer evening, I arrived to find one of several friends had arrived moments before me. I was excited to see a friendly face. From my cars trunk I retrieved a well worn patchwork quilt. My foavorite colors of pink and green, very warm and comforting whenever you wrapped yourself in it. Finding just the right vantage point I spread the blanket across the sloped ground in anticipation of the evenings' magic and energy of live music. It was the sky that drew my attention like a magnet. The indigo sunset was beautiful beyond words. I cannot remember a sky quite like it. Only Van Gogh could have painted its likeness. The purest indigo, yellow blue and lavender striations consumed the horizon, above the hill where we sat.

Still anticipating the bands arrival on stage, try as I might I could not take my gaze away from the sky for very long. Trying not to sound corny I asked my companion if she'd noticed the sunset. "Oh yeah, it was really nice huh." Nice it was, compelling drawing me to stare the way the ocean tide beckons surfers and fisherman.

When the music started it was relaxing in a way that little else can. Still there was a little chill in the air. I wiggled deeply into the quilt while listening to the music and taking in the last few minutes of the most beautiful sunset. As it began to fade to oranges and salmons the band was just hitting their stride. With Halloween approaching, they sang "oohhoo, oohhoo that Voodoo beware..." In that fleeting moment music filled the arena where everyone was dancing, swaying and clapping to the gentle rhythms. It was a perfect evening and the beauty of the indigo moon at sunset was etched into my memory as perfection.

High School Drama

At Merci's room you'll find an example of high school poetry. Well here goes my psudo-Sylvia Plath saga :

A Guitar

stands alone in the corner

Now it is still.

There were times this hand

carved piece of artistry

had been finely tuned,

played the most beautiful

sounds I ever heard.

You brought life to this guitar

singing beautiful notes

Strong hands perfectly

filling the air with beautiful music

In front of a fire

we sat singing old folk songs

as music and time

rolled along

There were times

then

that tender moments

were within your grasp

The music,

the life

you brought to that old guitar

and me.

The music

the life that now

is still.