Read at midnight...and consider yourself kissed!

I pray that 2009 is a year full of good changes, more peace, less worries, better or continued good health, less pounds, more laughter, and a closer relationship with God. If I could give one good bit of advice to you or myself.....it would be to stay in the present day and turn to God for strength and thanks in the small moments.






A note about the card....

Jordan came home for the Thanksgiving weekend and I had a photographer take some pictures of the kids. Chuck and I even got into a few poses. The photographer is Lisa Morris....a mom of the cutest twin girls that attend the school where I work. She is loaded with talent and very easy to work with. If you're anywhere in the Houston area, you should give her a call.



A Silver Bella sister, Cristina Sequino, whom I met in Omaha has her very own online stationery business...Sweet Pea Ink. I loved her holiday card selections and chose the one above....only changing the wording to Happy New Year....to give myself a little more time to get them mailed out. Check out her site here.

It's 5:45 pm and I'm still in my pj's......

My mom gave me new pj's for Christmas and they are so incredibly comfortable that I have stayed in them all day. I had good intentions a couple of times to get dressed and get out but then started packing up the Christmas stuff and here it is 5:45. STILL home, still in my pajamas. Check out the cute red & white print of my new pj's.



I did accomplish alot today. And I am going to give all the credit to staying in my pajamas. I highly recommend it. I don't know about you....but if I get dressed, chances are I'm hitting the streets.

The house always looks bare after the "Christmas" is taken away.......but it's refreshing to get it put away and wipe away the dusty glittery layer on everything. (Thank you God that no one in this family is allergic to dust or glitter. Amen) So after putting things away and getting some order back to the rooms, I took some photos.

Here's my ode to the New Year.........on the buffet by the stairs, of course. I know the photo looks a little blurry. I think I've finally convinced Chuck to shop for a new camera. One that can override incompetent operators.

Click on the photo below to see the detail in the teacup collage housed in an old drawer. The artist.....Stephanie George Hirschberg....doojies....my childhood friend. That girl has an eye for finding odds and ends and marrying them together in a collage.

Here's a great new find from Half Price Books....a vintage (1964) Bible....perfect green cover, very large print, great old pictures.....it's about 9 x 11 so perfect for my coffee table....only $10.00.

Jesus at the age of 12.

The inside cover needs a little repair as a mother wrote a note to her son Ronald in very large, very poor handwriting....like she needed to write large because the book was large. And since Ronald didn't want this bible......I will cover up his name with some pretty scrapbook paper. You can't blame Ronald's mother for trying to set him on the right path.......heehee. There was a scrap of paper in the Bible that had Warrenton, TX on it....so I am thinking Ronald's mom found it there.

And my little Fine Feathered Friends Book made from 25 ATC's in a swap that took place at Silver Bella and hosted by Gina Grable. This is one of my new treasures.

The little book sits in a tray from my friend Kathy amidst other things and now that Christmas is gone, I can enjoy these things again.

I moved the round table into the dining room for Thanksgiving. It's not the perfect fit because it needs to be centered under the chandelier which makes for way too much wall space showing.......but until I get served with papers from the Decorating Police, I'm leaving it in here awhile. I love a round table. There's never a bad seat.

Now that I see this picture on here, I'm thinking I need something big in the corner to balance things......uhhhmmmm.....but if you were to see this in REAL LIFE, it doesn't look this off.

Here's another picture for a better perspective.

Okay.....tomorrow is December 31. I will get up and get dressed and perhaps get out for awhile. Then take a nap so I can stay up 'til midnight. Wherever you are tomorrow at midnight....I hope you're not drinking and driving. Yes....I am talking to YOU. It happens even to people like YOU.

a lifetime in a day......

On Sunday evening, the phone rang and my childhood friend Stephanie asked me what I would be doing around 10 am on Monday. "uhhhhh.......why, do you need something?".....Yep, she was flying into Houston Hobby and needed a ride to College Station. It seems her oldest son Lucas and his girlfriend Kristen were needing some parental help with some living arrangements so she was booked on a Monday morning flight.

I picked her up and with a stop at my house to get the camera and a stop at Whataburger (she saw the orange & white striped roof and started moaning......I'm NOT kidding) we headed to College Station. Before the day was over, we went by her childhood home, my childhood home (actually 3 of them....my father was at A&M getting his Masters and PhD and we were renters for awhile during my first years there) then reunited with another friend of ours from the past...Cindy....who after living in Sugarland for 26 years moved back to College Station last year.

Stephanie is a cryer. I am not. She cried several times .........well if several = 5 to 7, she cried MORE than several times. She cried when the plane was landing in Houston, when we were on the freeway, when she saw my house........you get the point. Very sentimental. Very.

Here she is crying in front of her old house.....trying to call her Mom.....so they could cry together.



This was taken by the tree in Stephanie's old front yard. She is not crying here........but I think if you look closely you will see her tear ducts filling up. (just kidding S....I'm just jealous I don't cry.)

My sweetest, favorite moment of the day was walking down to the creek that ran behind my house. I lived in this particular house from about 4th grade through 9th grade. I spent hours down by this creek. Making mud pies, playing in the shallow water, making up my life's future. Hours and hours. I should have been afraid of snakes.....but for some reason I wasn't. I just loved the solitude.......just me and the mud and my thoughts. It's a pretty steep drop down there and this isn't the greatest photo but I had to try to capture it. Just know that this creek is a magical place. Every child should have a place like this. That's my shadow up on the banks.

Cindy, Stephanie and I are all 51....turning that age from November 5 to December 25...so within 6 weeks of each other. But let me assure you that when the 3 of us were together yesterday in our childhood hometown.......we were no more mature than 13 year old girls. We were talking about old crushes within minutes of reuniting. Just seeing the mall conjured up images of us walking the 2 miles there barefoot with a comb in our back pocket. Stephanie's memory is unbelievable. She can recall vivid details......of even my childhood. So I love hearing her tell me things that took place that I have long forgotten.

Anyway......I went from 51 back to 7 and all the years forward in a day. Needless to say I was worn out last night.