Autumn Season Place Cards

I made these simple little place cards for thanksgiving. A little brown and gold cardstock and vellum and voila! I cut rectangles out of brown stock, rounded the corners then printed a leaf shape on gold stock and cut them out. Rubbed the edges on a brown ink pad for a "burnt" or antiqued look. Glued on a little offset onto the face of a folded brown card. Added some curly lines... printed names in a handwritten font on vellum and cut out and glued to front of leaves.

Share Your Smile

Observation: As you go up or down the escalators in the Denver Convention Center, there's a recording of people laughing playing. It's fun to watch peoples faces go from that hurried concentration to wonderment to smiling and even laughing themselves which then becomes contagious. I notice even on SNL when there's a bad skit but if one of the players can't keep a straight face it becomes way funny. Maybe with all the negative crap and cabin fever we should just try to laugh or even better, make someone else laugh. I saw a sign once... share your smile-I think that could apply to laughter.

End of the Year 2009

Today was the first time I marked the end of the year with a funeral. We said our goodbyes to my Uncle Doug. He was 70 and had been suffering from Parkinsons. My cousin (his son) delivered a wonderful and light hearted ulogy. He recalled some of the funny and poigniat moments with his dad and the family. As a baseball coach and other wise. While the end is always a reminder of how much the loved one will be missed it's always a reminder of how much they meant to those of us still left behind.
After the holidays have passed and the "giving" spirit is reset with a new year. We need to remember how important it is that our loved ones know how much we love them. Our friends know how much we value them and how much our cause, what ever it may be is worthwhile to us. Live a good life, Laugh a good laugh and be the best you that you can.
I believe in the next year I hope there to be less of me in weight and more of me in heart.

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is coming, ready or not. Ready? Define READY. I remember my grandma making it look so easy. Effortless finder of a genuine gift, chef of a grand meal and decorator extrordinaire. Never broke a sweat (or at least never showed it) and kept on going. I sort of miss those days of arriving to a warm wonderfully scented house, not really being aware of what efforts went into this magical evening but soaking up every minute of great memories. I still look forward to the big day but not without "feeling" it until then.
I guess it's just a challenge and getting to it and through it is the reward.
Maybe if my lack of sleep would resolve itself I might be able to absorb more of the positive...

Snow!

The forecast keeps changing but the good news is the number keeps going up so bring onthe snow! I love this time of year. I could stand to hibernate for the whole winter but it's tough to Christmas shop :-) Snow days are good days!

This TIme of Year

I have a LOVE HATE relationship with this time of year. Love the decor, the festivities, the gatherings and sights and sounds. At the same time the unreasonable expectations you place on yourself pysically, emotionally and financially are a bit of a large trade off. My daughter was born in December :-) My grandmother died in December :(
But then again you have to experience the bad to know how good the good is! In any case I guess I just look forward to the season but colapse with exhaustion once it's over!

Cowgirl Getaway!

Okay, I found this today and now I'm in the midst of rounding up friends to go with me! This looks like so much fun! Although we may have to turn off the cells, leave the laptops at home and find something to actually talk about. This Cowgirl Weekend would be a blast. I have a little less than a year to prepare but I think I will make this one happen! The only problem is... I may decide to stay :-)