Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

Crazymama is asking the questions this week and this is what she wants to know:

{1} What is your favorite Easter tradition?

I don't really have a favorite tradition.  Of course, when my kids were small, we always did Easter baskets, fancy duds and some sort of meal ... brunch or dinner depending on when extended family could be there.  I guess my favorite thing was the community Easter egg hunts on the Saturday preceding Easter Sunday.  It was a kick watching the kids run amok.

{2} Tell us about your Easter meal.

We always have ham whether we do brunch, dinner or dine out.  This year we will be traveling to Whidbey Island in Washington state to have brunch with our kids.  Our son has been holding out for some sort of ferry ride.  I hope that can happen for him.  I also hope that if it happens, we are back to lovely weather.

{3} Do you decorate for Easter?

I decorate a little bit ... more to do with spring than Easter per se.  I do put up a little Easter but, since the kids have left home (and especially if we aren't doing Easter here), I don't do much.  When the kids were small, I went all out ... right down to putting fake bunny thumb prints on the doorjamb on Easter morning so they would know that the Easter bunny was, in fact, real.  I still crack up and the looks on their faces.

{4} Your Easter basket is not complete without....

Chocolate ... and then a Peep or two ... and then, well, more chocolate.

{5} Are you getting an Easter dress?

No.  I rarely do dresses at all.  I mean, with two children having married in 2011, I did dresses.  Dresses for showers, dresses for rehearsal dinners and, of course, dresses for the wedding.  I'm over it.  I'm just really not a dress kind of gal.

And that, my friends is it for my bunny trail exploits.  Not very exciting I'm afraid.  But, you wanted to know, right?

Now hop on over and link up and answer these questions for yourself.

Being Still

I haven't blogged in awhile.  It certainly isn't because I don't have anything to blog about.  Projects have abounded around here lately and I do promise to share some of those fairly soon.  I haven't blogged because I haven't taken the time.  I've either been going full tilt or I slip into the mindless perusal of all things internet.  And, it seems that my mind has become muddled with too much information and that I have begun to feel like I'm on overload.  So, wouldn't you know it .... as has often happened in the past ... I was reading blogs this morning and ran across a blog post that seemed to speak directly to me.  Another blogger had put my thoughts and feelings down ... which only goes to show how much more alike we all are than we are different.  In a nutshell, she spoke of just stopping all of the madness and simply taking the time to quiet one's thoughts and find peace.  And then it hit me .... hadn't I blogged the desire to find peace and quiet in a New Year's related blog post?  Why, yes I had.  Had I listened to my own advice?  Well, not exactly.  So thank you fellow bloggers for occasionally reminding me that its okay to seek peace, take care of myself and feed my own soul.  It quite often is just what the doctor ordered.

A New Year

Well, I have been debating just what type of post I wanted to write going into 2012.  There is always the recap of the past year ... mine wouldn't be very consistent 'blog-wise' ... my posts ranged from life events to home projects to random thoughts.  Lets sum it up by saying that 2011 was eventful in that both of my children were married ... my daughter in January and my son in July.  Life changing indeed.  The other stuff was minor.

I could always go with a New Year's resolution post but, I don't do resolutions per se.  I mean, if I've learned anything in 60 years, it is not to deliberately set myself up for failure.  It is easy enough to fall short of goals without proclaiming them to the universe.  I do, of course, get into that 'eat healthier' and 'organize' mind set each January.  I wonder if there is anyone out there who doesn't considering the play that these ideas get in all forms of media.  So, no resolutions post.

Seriously, it has gotten so that getting through the holidays is achievement enough.  I can put away the decorations and sigh with relief that I won't have to pack that stuff out of the attic for another year.  I don't want to sound like Scrooge but, it gets harder every year.  Also, by the time I get into late January, I just want to fast forward right on into spring.  Although we've had a fairly open winter this year in the Pacific Northwest, it is cold.  I'm ready to get outside, wear flip flops and enjoy some sun.

In the meantime, I'm doing what everyone else is doing ... focusing on eating healthier, doing those house projects and just finding time to settle in for the rest of the winter.  When I reflect on the past year, it is to note not only those big events but to realize how quickly it flew by.  This year will be no different.  It causes me to ponder making better use of the days that are given to me.

I need to worry less about what needs to be done and spend more time doing what makes me happy.  I need to find the time for friends and family that I don't see often enough.  We never really know how long we'll have each other.  I need to check a few things off my bucket list.  In other words, I will focus on finding more joy in the everyday aspects of life ... and in the occasional extraordinary things that come my way.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

WISHES FOR THE SEASON

It is winter.  It is the 'holiday season' ... more specifically ... it is the week of Christmas.  Most of the blogs that I follow are all about Christmas decorations, family pictures and family feasts.  There are beautiful and joyful posts galore.  It is a veritable feast of eye candy and joy.  And then ... there is the slightest undercurrent of those brave enough to admit that this season is hard on many people.  We are in the midst of an economy that won't allow a lot of folks to have those glorious, picture-perfect holidays.  There are people who are experiencing loss ... loss of loved ones, loss of marriages, loss of jobs and homes.  It is hard ... it is bleak ... and it is reality.  So, here is my wish for Christmas ...

I hope that those of us more fortunate can realize our bounty and come from a place of gratitude.  I wish that we could learn to pull together in this country and the world before we tear it completely apart.  I would want people to practice kindness ... random or intentional.  I hope that those who are struggling find peace during this season and that the miseries people are experiencing will resolve.  Mostly, I hope for peace ... not just in the world but in our souls.  So, I will not stop at just saying Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays ... I would like to say "May you find peace in your heart this season."

SEASONS GREETINGS

Christmas Decorating

   

Well, I finally managed to find a little time to blog about my Christmas decor this year.  It has been an interesting transition.  I have been one of those 'decorate every inch of the home' type for years.  Until now.  Things are decidedly different this year.  Both of my children got married this year so, I boxed up their personal Christmas ornaments and gave them to each of them.  It is time for them to make their own traditions (incorporating a little of their childhood traditions into new ones).

I used to put up two full-size trees.  I don't anymore.  I just don't have the energy.  And, with just the two of us around most of the time, it hardly seems worth it.  Still, I have enough ornaments on hand that I could do it.  Instead, I decided I can change color themes from year to year.  This year, the theme is white and gold.  I have entire bins of reds and corals and even sage green.

As you can see, I like birds ... a lot.  They always have a way of finding their way into my decor.  And, at Christmas time, the other winged beings ... angels ... are also included.  Here is a picture of a little, vintage snow angel that I have had around for years.  Isn't she lovely?  Notice she is holding a bird in a nest ... win-win.

I do a vintage display with a feather tree, and a vignette of all things glittery or mirror glass.  I love bottle brush trees, and you can see that snow angels are a recurring theme.

This little reindeer is so vintage looking ...

I found this wreath at a local craft sale and since she matched the smaller snow angel I already had, she had to come home with me.

And that is the gist of my Christmas decor.  Even though I have cut down, it wouldn't be obvious to most people coming into my home ... which goes to show that I've got a history of decorating madness.  I also reserve the right to go completely insane when I have grandchildren.  I will make this place magical for them ... just like I did for my own children.

So, Merry Christmas to all of my bloggy friends and may you find joy in all of the preparations you do for your families.

Thankful to be Here

Well, it is official ... I am sixty years old .... 6-0 people!  I didn't really ever think about getting this old.  Its not one of those birthdays one looks forward to, like turning 16 so that we can drive, or 21 so that we can go into clubs.  And, its not even the half-century mark ... that ship has sailed.

I was born on Thanksgiving day sixty years ago.  My birthday falls on Thanksgiving randomly.  I never really liked it because it usually meant getting a cake after everyone was already stuffed with turkey and pumpkin pie.  So, it was always so much better when it at least fell a few days earlier.  My mom always tells the story about my birth that starts with her cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  My dad was off work that day so he was pouring a concrete patio while mom cooked.  Well, when she went into labor he kept telling her that she had to be wrong because I was not due until closer to Christmas.  I guess she finally convinced him because he had to make a seam in the patio and they went to the hospital and I was born right around dinner time.

But, on the topic of aging ... my lifelong friends and I (you met them in a previous post) would sit around and comment that 40 was so old and that we couldn't imagine it.  Well, here we are on the far side of 40 and looking at that age wistfully.  Still, a lot of good things have happened to me in my life ... and, of course, some not-so-great stuff.  I wouldn't trade my age for the alternative.  Its a gift to have longevity and be healthy at this age.  I don't really feel 60 and I'm told I don't look it.  But, then again, what does 60 look like these days?  People are a product of genetics and how well they choose to take care of this body we are given.  So, I do my best to maintain myself.  More importantly, I try to think young.  I try not to become one of those people who turns their nose up at new ideas or whatever it is that younger people are into these days.  Life is a gift and with my Thanksgiving based birthday .... I'm just thankful to be here.

Best Friends Forever

Well, its that time of year again .... gal friend getaway.  These are my besties from childhood.  That's me on the left, Denise in the middle' and Eleanor on the right.  I do not remember a time when these girls weren't in my life.  My parents and Eleanor's parents were friends and neighbors.  They used to stick us in the same crib to sleep while they visited and played cards.  My mom and Denise's mom were in a women's group together and so Denise shows up in pictures from the time we were about three years old.  We've been friends forever and, this weekend we are celebrating sixty (yes 6-0 ) years of friendship.

I know that most people have a lifelong friend or two but, it is rare people for three girls to all be best friends for life ... through the fickleness of junior high and high school, through the years where life took us down different paths and to different cities and states and then, back around to the age we are now.  We had a code that we came up with when we were young ... we never left anyone out deliberately, we never went after a boy one of the others liked (even if said boy didn't know said girl existed ... its the principal) and we never talked maliciously about one another to each other.  It works, trust me.

I feel truly blessed to have these women in my life.  You see, none of us ever had sisters.  Oh, we have a bunch of brothers but, nary a sister in sight.  So, we have become more like sisters than some real sisters. These women are the sisters of my heart and I would do anything for them and I feel that they would do the same for me.  It is a good feeling to have.  We all need those people in our lives.

So, off we go to our annual retreat ... we will probably stay up too late talking, not get nearly as much exercise as we intend to, drink too much wine and, eat too much food.  But, we will also laugh until we cry, dredge up every little stupid thing we ever did, and maybe consult an old yearbook when one of us doesn't remember someone another is talking about.  We have fun, we unwind, we leave life's current situations and problems behind and for a few days, we might as well be 16 again ... just trying to figure out how much we can get away with.  Its all good.