My Original Artwork From Jodi Ohl Arrived Today!

My original artwork piece from Jodi Ohl arrived today. It was like having a second Christmas. I blogged about winning Jodi's "40 is the new 20" giveaway she did to celebrate her birthday. I won a $40.00 shopping spree and decided to apply it towards an original piece of art. I'm so glad I did....

I woke with an awful head cold this morning and felt so down after such a wonderful Christmas Day at home with hubby, the girls, their husbands and our granddaughter. We had a fun time opening the gifts from under the tree followed by a traditional turkey and ham dinner. Yes, I fixed both turkey and ham, we like leftovers. I was sitting in my chair feeling miserable with a stuffy nose and achy body when the mailman knocked. Hubby went to the door and found the package on the porch. I seen it was from Jody and my mind was immediately taken off that miserable feeling. Jodi is a wonderful artist and the painting arrived wrapped very well. I had so much fun opening it. She included a card and not one but two ATC's. Wow!!! I can now say I have the start of a collection as I have one from Misty Mawn also. Anyways... The artwork is on wood and a lot heavier than I had expected. The back is collaged to look like the way they used to cover the backs of paintings years ago. It's very nice and sealed also. She even placed her business card on the back and it is pretty too. I can't begin to express how much I love this piece and my husband even gave it his approval. For someone that "never wins anything" I sure lucked out this time. So today I had a second Christmas to brighten my day (and I took a nap too). We get to do it all over again on the 28th at my moms house with my family and my siblings and their families and it is always so much fun. I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas (or whatever Holiday you choose to celebrate) and will have a wonderful New Year. Remember too that there is a reason for this season.

Blessings to you all,

Tess

P.S. You can find Jodi's artwork here

sweetrepeats

and here

lucysweetlucy

Happy Holidays!!!

Christian Glitter by www.christianglitter.com

Sending You A Heartfelt Wish for a
Merry Christmas
and an
Awesome New Year!

Did I mention I'm a Winner yet?

I've been meaning to get this posted for some time now and with all of the holiday preparations it kept getting put off. On December 8th Jodi over at sweetrepeats did a "40 is the new 20 Giveaway" to celebrate her birthday. (Guess how old she is!) Of course I had to enter as I love the artwork Jodi creates and sells in her lucysweetlucy etsy shop. I never expected to win as I am forever entering giveaways and sweepstakes and never win a thing. Jodi's giveaway to the winner is a $40.00 shopping spree at her etsy shop. Well I won for a change. I found out Dec. 14th that I was chosen. After browsing at all of the wonderful "eye candy" in her shop I chose to put the $40.00 prize toward purchasing an original artwork. I chose this one:
"Hers and His" reminds me of how good my husband is. He sets up the coffee pot every night so that coffee is ready and waiting for us when we wake up in the morning. Isn't that sweet of him? My new painting won't be here in time for Christmas but that's OK. I have just the right place already picked out to hang it.

If you have never viewed Jodi's blog you absolutely must, she is a wonderful mixed media artist, mom and blogger. She keeps it real and admits to often feeling overwhelmed with it all; children, work and leading a creative life. She also displays wonderful photos of new pieces she is working on. Jodi was featured in the Nov/Dec issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, you'll find her on page 40. I love that magazine! I'd say she is doing great including creativity in her life. So have any of you won anything lately? Oh, and a big thank you to Jodi and a wish for much success in the future.

Happy Holidays,

Tess

Last Minute White Elephant Gifts

I've recently been published on AC. If you haven't finished your Holiday Shopping yet and are finding funds budgeted for gifts gone you may find a few of my last minute gift ideas helpful. Read my "Last Minute White Elephant Gift Ideas for Holiday Parties" article here
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1300895/last_minute_white_elephant_gift_ideas.html?cat=46. And I found I wrote a similar article in 2007 titled "Wonderful White Elephant Gifts". You can read it here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/491923/wonderful_white_elephant_gifts.html?cat=7.

I'm finding rereading some of my articles and poetry published on AC quite interesting. In this way I am learning a few things about myself. I have enjoyed the community at AC and all of my friends there and in blog land over the past year. I think I have grown, my writing has improved and I've found a renewed interest in many things.

I want to take this time to thank all of you that have read my blog and commented or read my AC content and commented there. Your comments, words of encouragement and inspiration mean a lot to me.

I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and may this next year be our best ever.

Merry Christmas everyone,
Tess

Art by Martha Lever

I just had to take a moment to tell you about a wonderful artist I have recently been following. Martha Lever is a gifted painter and has a wonderful blog where she posts about her artwork experience. She paints the most beautiful poppies and is a thrifty artist at that. She has shared how she finds art supply bargains at Hobby Lobby and uses them to create her own art.

Her blog http://marthalever.blogspot.com/ is fun and so is her etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6060649 She paints the most beautiful little girls. I so love the one in the straw hat.

What I really love the most about Martha's art is that she incorporates words in her paintings, many being words from the scriptures. She is a calligrapher at heart and her lettering is so very lovely. If you love scripture based art or poppies or colorful images of beautiful ladies you really must check out Martha Lever's Art du Jour blog. http://marthalever.blogspot.com/ Her blog is a real treat for the heart and soul.

Blessings to you all,
Tess

Technorati Profile

Have any of you used Technorati? I am trying to claim my blog there and it sure has been a hassle. It said to copy and paste the above on my front page of my blog so here it is. I hope this works.

Happy night to you all,
Tess

Happy Thanksgiving

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off of your thighs!
- Author Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Teresa aka Tess

Needle, Thread, Fabric and Jude

I log onto blogland and check those blogs that I am following each day, or at least I try to check each day. I've been following Jude Hills' spiritcloth blog for some time now. I don't even remember how I found her I just know that looking at her wonderful spiritcloths or quilts can be very addictive. I am not only amazed by what she can do with needle, thread and scraps of cloth but I find her stories behind the cloths fascinating. She has brought to my mind the many hours I would sit and watch my grandmother or an Aunt sew. A wonderful friend from so many years ago had taught me how to embroider and cross stitch. Oh how I wish I had paid more attention and kept up with this wonderful craft.
I came across a bag of upholstery samples at a yard sale several summers ago and bought them. I recently found where I had stashed that bag and decided to give it a try. I decided to embroider over the designs already there. I find time most evenings to sit and work on this little piece with needle and found embroidery thread inherited from my late mother-in-law. I'm so glad I didn't throw that box out or sell it; those threads have come in handy many times. I find even just a few minutes of time spent sewing on this piece helps calm me.
If you love sewing, quilting or stitching of any kind and if you love endearing stories you must visit Jude's "spiritcloth" blog or her "what if" blog. If you haven't picked up needle and thread in a while she may just inspire you to give it another try. I am and I know it's not the best but it's my best try and with time I'll get even better at it. Time is one of the subjects of Jude's blog post today. I agree with her in that we all should slow down and take the time needed to make something with our own hands for our friends and loved ones. These handmade items are often the most cherished. Wouldn't you agree?

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/what_if/

Wishing you all a good and restful weekend,
Tess

Another Postcrossings Update

Remember my past blog about postcrossings.com? If not read it here in my September posts or at my AC site here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1013602/post_crossings.html?cat=4

I had sent out about 10 cards and only received 3 myself so I was beginning to feel discouraged. Not any more! This week there has been a surprise in my mailbox everyday. I even recieved a postcard and my 1st Christmas card this year both on the same day from kind postcrossings members. It's been lots of fun and even my husband is starting to get excited about it.

I love the red roofs on this card from Leiden.

We both found this card very comical. I want to believe too, how about you?

This is a homemade card from Italy.

And my very first Christmas card this year. It's a bit early I know but hey, it's from the Netherlands. She even included a couple bags of tea and a nice little tree pin in the card. Thanks Karin and Merry Christmas to you too.

Well that's my update. I have more cards and have added them to my postcard wall at my postcrossings site. You can view them there and if you get bored and want something to do check out all of the cards that have been downloaded at postcrossings. There are cards from many different countries, some beautiful, some inspirational and some downright comical.

Enjoy the rest of your week. Hey it's almost Friday, I better get some sleep.

night night,

Tess

Poets Reading Update

Greetings this fine Veterans Day. If you missed my poetry reading today you can still hear me and other wonderful poets and authors read by logging onto http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/ Enter the site and look to the left and click on What's Happening. On the next page scroll down until you find the list of topics. You are looking for:
November 11 30 Minute Poetry with Dianne Tegarten
The entire show is there for anyone to listen to at anytime. I have to say this was a wonderful experience. I felt out of place and humbled by the quality of some of the other poets and yet when it was my turn to read it just flowed. You must listen to Christian read his poetry. He writes poetry in the written word style and it is meant to be heard with jazz in the background. Even without the music I felt the jazz. He is a wonderful poet and speaker. I was amazed at how easy this was and if you write poetry and have never read it out loud to yourself or another, please do. What you hear in your head and how it sounds when you read it may be the same and it may not be. I had to read my selections out loud several times to really get the tone I was hoping for. I was so nervous but listening back to it I don't think I came across that way. I am so grateful to Diane for giving me this opportunity. I hope you will find some time to make a cup of tea and tune in and listen to this wonderful broadcast.
Blessings to you all,
Tess

Poets Reading with Diane Tegarden

I've been invited to do a live reading of my own poetry. Can you believe it? I know I couldn't at first. I met Diane years ago at Ryze.com. We finally spoke for the first time last night. Oh how we connected, I so enjoyed our conversation. She was so easy to talk to. She has helped assure me my voice is ok and I can do this. Reading my own poetry out loud to an audience is like opening an old wound and inviting others to throw stuff at it. Well atleast that was how I felt until last night. I am proud of my writing abilities. I'm not really as educated as most poets or writers are and I've allowed that to hold me back, but not any more. So join me with Diane if you will. With all the excitement of the election and

After all the ballyhoo and bombast, it's time to take a break with us!

The Storytellers, Poets and Bards of the World join Diane Tegarden, poetess and author, as she hosts half-hour poetry readings on Internet Voices Radio with her gregarious guests!


WHERE: http://internetvoicesradio.com

LISTENERS CALL IN# 866-977-4887

WHEN: Every Tuesday in November (11th, 18th, and 25th)

TIME: 2:30pm PST/ 3:30pm MST/ 4:30pm CST/ 5:30pm EST

Join us for a charming half-hour of unique poetry and author's chat as Diane and her guests read you their poetry and discuss the larger social issues touching their lives.


HERE IS THE SHOW SCHEDULE:

Date= Show Theme= Guest Names

Nov 11th= Miracles=
Guests: Billy, Christian, Teresa Mahieu, and Wanda

Nov 18th= Loneliness=
Guests: Lillian B., Maria A., Arvind, and Marva

Nov 25th= Domestic Abuse=
Guests: Ally, Marsha, and Lillian Brummet.

**************************************************************************
Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and relax. Take this break from your everyday world to enjoy the new vistas brought to you by these fresh, original poets!

**************************************************************************

You may or may not recognize some of the names. But I have confidence that one day they'll be known and you'll be able to say I heard him or I heard her read that poem out loud. You can find many of these fine poets and authors on ryze.com or associatedcontent.com among other places. I've posted some of my poetry here and at http://www.associatedcontent.com/tess1960

May you all be blessed with a wonderful day,

Teresa aka Tess

My Etsy Shop

Did you know I have an etsy shop? Neither did I, well not until recently anyway.

A while ago I registered on etsy.com to be able to purchase handmade items from wonderful crafters and artists. I had forgotten all about it. I remembered while visiting dj Pettitt's etsy shop ( http://www.djpettitt.etsy.com/ )and thought why not open a shop myself and give it a try. DJ is one of my favorite artists. Her artwork is so inspirational. I am a habitual crafter, I have a need to keep my mind and hands busy. I am always learning or teaching myself new crafting or art skills.

I painted some baby shoes a while back for a craft show here locally and had some left so I've added them to my shop. I got this idea from a craft magazine, several of which I buy regularly.

I like recycling things and altering items. I recently found painting and collaging on old license plates to be a fun and creative outlet. I've painted several of these as gifts (shhh) and decided to add some of them to my shop.

It's been fun coming up with ideas for hangers and embellishments for these car tag wall hangings. Kids love them, at least my granddaughter does.

So if you wish to have a look here's my etsy shop addy:

http://www.tess1960.etsy.com/

We're having Indian Summer weather here, it's been beautiful outside. The temps been in the 70's and the leaves are turning such beautiful colors. I hope you all are enjoying the start of November. The holidays and colder weather will be upon us before we know it. Consider buying handmade or making your holiday gifts yourself this year. Handmade can be lots of fun and most people will appreciate that special personal touch. (Another shameless plug for etsy.com, I love that place.)

Happy day,

Tess

Happy Halloween

Watch out for ghostly skeletons,

And those ghastly spiders too!

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Tess

It's the Simple Things in Life.....

It really is the simple, little things in life that excite us. Case in point, my husbands discovery of a double yolked egg. Chuck was nice enough to fix breakfast for us this weekend and he always gives me my plate first. Just as I'm poking at my egg I hear an excited "honey, look at this". There in the skillet was a two yolked egg. I knew he hadn't pulled a fast one on me because he hadn't had but 2 eggs in front of him to cook and one was on my plate. I hurried to get the camera to take a picture of this phenomenon. Phenomenon to us anyway as it was the first time either of us had seen a two yolk egg. I did some searching online and found a statement about double yolked eggs on wikipedia.com but it was flagged for no source shown so I searched further and found PoultryHelp.com. There I found the following:

"Double Yolkers appear when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk somehow gets "lost" and is joined by the next yolk. Double yolkers may be by a pullet whose productive cycle is not yet well synchronized. They're occasionally laid by a heavy-breed hen, often as an inherited trait."

There is also a section on wikipedia about Lou Mitchell's Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois using only double yolked eggs. Interesting!

So Chuck had the excitement of cooking and eating a double yolked egg today and I learned something new? Have any of you ever seen a double yolked egg before?

Beautiful October Days

It's so hard to believe we are in the middle of October already. Days are blending together, so much to do...too much to do. Sometimes in order to take a deep breath and slow down we have to force it upon ourselves. I did just that over this past weekend. I picked up my granddaughter and kept her overnight. We had dinner together with grandpa and she played a while with Frankie, the new kitten. She was so pleased to see Frankie was doing ok. Then we read her homework assignment. A book entirely beyond her reading level but she did pretty good sounding out the words. A nice, quiet relaxing evening.

Sunday afternoon we went through McDonald's drive-thru and then took our lunch to a picnic bench at Homer's Pond. The sun was shining and the temp was in the 70's but it was windy. The wind made for an interesting lunch to say the least. We had to keep a hand or elbow on everything. The camera I brought along with a photo shoot in mind came in handy to hold down the napkins. It was very funny and I do love seeing and hearing her laughter. After lunch we went walking on the walking trail around the pond. She had so much fun finding odd places for me to photograph her. My little 9 year old granddaughter is not afraid of dirt or climbing at all, not one bit. She's not all tomboy mind you, but not all froo-froo either.

She found this boulder and had to climb it:

Then she hid behind a tree and peeked out at me:

This log was meant for sitting on:

"Don't worry grandma, I won't fall in."

This looked like a good place to rest and give grandma another big smile:


These were growing all over and she wanted to pick one. I convinced her not to but she insisted I had to take a picture, so I took two. I plan to print them for her so she can remember how beautiful Homer's Pond is during the cold winter months that are ahead of us.

If you haven't taken a nature walk with a child yet this fall do try to. It was amazing the things she seen that I had never noticed before. Our leaves aren't changing color as nicely as I would have liked yet, but I do enjoy the green!

Have you encouraged someone today?

There are times when one of those generic e-mails that are sent around and around the world finds it's way to your inbox and you can really relate to it. This happened to me today. I often wish the author's name of the wonderful quotes or essays were included in these e-mails but they usually are not. We take a chance of infringing on someones copyright if we reproduce the content on a blog or website. Sometimes the content makes taking that chance worth it. If anyone knows the author of the following I will gladly give credit where credit is due. I enjoyed this immensely and am sure you will too. Read on:


Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began.... Honestly, no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult, they will NEVER make it to the top!!" Or "Not a chance that they will succeed, the tower is too high!" The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher…The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up....But ONE continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up! At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal? It turned out....That the winner was DEAF!!!!
The wisdom of this story is: Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart!
~ Author Unknown


Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! And remember everything that you say and write will affect another.


Therefore: ALWAYS be.... POSITIVE! And above all ~Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!

A New Kitten

Good Morning All,
We have a new kitten in our household and she has sure stirred up things a bit here. We are already proud keepers of two furry felines Sierra and Sasha. We now have Frankie with us. She is almost 6 months old, white with some gray and the cutest tail. It looks like a raccoons tail with the circular stripes. Oh and she has the most beautiful blue eyes. She is too be mine as Sasha is definitely Chuck's and Sierra favors whomever she pleases at the time. So far Frankie has been content to sit with me in the evenings, somewhat out of fear I think. Sasha has been hissing and growling at her for better part of a week. I'm happy to report they are now occupying the same room without a lot of noise going on and Frankie is investigating her new surroundings more. I've written all about our furry friends on Associated Content, I hope you'll have a look (click on the title of this post and the article will open in a new wondow.) There are more pictures there too.
Have a great day,
Tess

Postcrossings Update

Greetings Friends - Old and New,
I had a wonderful surprise in my mail box today.
You may remember in one of my earlier blogs I had told about finding a new to me website, postcrossings.com. I had decided to join and requested four names. I created my own postcard using a photograph I had recently taken and I mailed out a postcard to Pennsylvania, Gremany, Croatia and Finland. On postcrossings.com you can track when the cards you sent arrived. The one I sent to a college student in Pennsylvania arrived in 4 days, Finland took 8 days and Croatia took 11 days. The one I sent to Germany has not been registered as arriving yet. So far travel time is listed as 11 days. But what about my surprise today...

I recieved a post card from Ria in New Mexico today; and another from Alex in Germany. Ria sent a wonderful card depicting wildlife in the Southwest. A reminder of why I loved visiting and living there so much. I spent a week, twice, at Philmont Scout Center in Cimmarron, New Mexico. But that is another story.
Alex sent a photograph he had taken himself of part of the "Sony Center" in Berlin. Judging by his post card he is a good photographer.

So my post card collection has been started. I have a feeling this is going to be alot of fun and maybe addictive. I have requested 2 more names and will be sending a card to Florida and another to Germany this week. I love getting e-mails but I think "snail mail" really is the best.

Post Crossings

Greetings September,

It's cool and cloudy here in the land of Oz today. We may get rain. I won't mind, we need it and I am ready for cooler weather. I was up late browsing the internet one evening as I sometimes am. The season's changing cause me stiff joints and head allergy symptoms so sometimes I wake often during the night. Anyhow, I found this great new site, new to me anyway, called postcrossings. The concept is really neat. You sign up for free and request to send a postcard and you will recieve an address from just one of many different countries or your own. Once you request an address yours will be added to the system and someone else will recieve it and send you a postcard. There is a profile page where I was able to enter my interests and hobbies to help the sender with an idea of what type of postcard to send. I really liked the idea of recieving postcards from around the world so I signed up and have requested 4 addresses, the system allows up to 5 postcards to be traveling at a time. Today I will mail a postcard to a young lady in Finland, a young man in Croatia, a young man in Germany and a young lady attending college here in the good ole' USA; PA to be exact. I wanted to get started right away and since all had interests in nature I decided to create my own postcard to start. I must remember to pick up some postcards showcasing my town next time I am out shopping. Here is the website address if you'd like to try out postcrossings, I think it would be a great venture for homeschooled kids, college students and the home bound. As for me, I just like getting snail mail.

http://www.postcrossing.com

Enjoy your day,

Tess

Update: The postage for an International postcard was 94 cents. I bought a few 10 cent stamps so next time I can send off postcards with pretty stamps on them, atleast until or postage rate goes up again next year.

The "naked ladies" Are Blooming

The Amaryllis bulbs are blooming outside my back door. These beautiful tall flowers are also known as Belladonna Lillie's or "naked ladies". The greenery sprouts up in February with no blooms and then dies off with the summer heat. Then in mid August they suddenly appear, tall and beautiful with no leaves or "dresses" one may say; thus the name "naked ladies". I love these beautiful flowers and wish they lasted longer than just a few weeks each August. When these bloom I know Fall is not far behind. You may view more of my Amaryllis photos by viewing my slideshow on Associated Contnet here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/6504/amaryllis_belladonna_lily_or.html?cat=32

Shine Quote

Greetings to all,

I found a new site today that I may check back on frequently. Self portrait challenges are something I feel I would have trouble with and yet I think a self portrait challenge could be interesting and help one learn about oneself. The August challenge is get your shine on or shine. Visit http://www.selfportaitchallenge.net/ to find out more.



I found this site through Misty Mawn's website. Misty is a wonderful mixed media collage artist and she is featured in the September/October issue of Somerset Studio. I love the faces in her art work. They are so expressive and evoke such emotion within the viewer. Her blog is at http://mistymawn.typepad.com/my_weblog/ I loved the post she made to articulate the challenge.



I leave you with a wonderful quote found posted on spc. I love this quote and am very pleased to have found it:



“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.” ~ Emily Dickinson

Clothes Shopping for School

Happy Monday, what's left of it anyway.

What a weekend! I took my granddaughter clothes shopping for school. As her mom lost her job and dad is losing 8 hours a week it didn't look as if they were going to be able to do much for her for starting school this year. So....

I picked up Raven on Sunday and took her to Goody's. With a promise of ice cream after she was really good considering I think I had her try on about 50 outfits just to find 5 that fit right. She's a bit chunky in the middle and wide shoulders so the traditional little girls sizes don't fit her any more. We did find one t-shirt dress that fit her comfortably that she loves. It's pink, of course she loves it, pink is her favorite color. Buying from the teen section for an almost 9 year old is like finding a needle in a hay stack. The sizes are cut to be tight fitting or they plunge to her navel. This year there seemed to be more rounded necklines than in past years so those were the ones we picked the most. My granddaughter has short legs so the capri styles fit her as long pants and the longer legged shorts fit her as capri's. I love playing dress up with her and seeing her face light up with the styles she likes and the horrible grimace she makes with the ones she hates. She definitely prefers solid colors on the bottom and bright pinks and blues on top. She was really into the lace and floral this year. In years past she only seemed to want to try on the t-shirts and didn't much care about the comfort factor. So many of the teen t-shirts had lovely designs with glitter and sequins but fit her skin tight. I hated having to say no. We tried finding some like that in the petite women's dept. but no such luck. Nothing that was suitable for a 9 year old anyway. She was easy to steer to other things though, grab a pink top, hey Raven look. Oh grandma that's the one! Yep, easy to steer her mind in another direction. They had all of the shoes on sale so I was able to get her a pair of nice Sketchers for dressier days and a pair of Nike for PE. Oh, I almost forgot, she says it's called gym in her school. I even found a pair of blue jeans, Ashley Judd, that not only fit her waist but weren't miles too long. She didn't like that they weren't all fancy but she did admit they fit so, in the cart they went.

All in all I think we did pretty good. We bought 2 skirts, 3 pairs slacks, 1 pair jeans, 5 tops and 1 dress. Plus the shoes and I only spent $267.00 and some change. We shopped only from the sales racks and discount racks. Usually we have to hit the boys section because of her body shape but we didn't have to this year. My receipt said I saved $126.00. So, if you have a Goody's Store in your area and haven't done your school clothes shopping yet I would suggest you give them a look see. It was well worth it for us this year. I don't think I've ever managed a weeks clothes from one store before. And never this cheap. Oh and today is her birthday, so she is officially 9 now. I've been hearing "Grandma, did you know I'm almost 9 years old?" for months now. I sure do love that child and I hope she doesn't grow up too fast!

Happy Birthday Raven, grandma loves you!!

My Grandmothers Hands

I've been missing my grandmothers lately. Sadly they are all deceased. But I remember them well. I found a photo on wikimedia by Ilona Eggers that is the way I picture my grandmothers hands; rough, calloused and wrinkled. I altared it a bit to make it fit more into how I wanted it to appear here. (Wikimedia is great for copyright free images.)

I wrote this poem one day while thinking of one of my grandmothers.

***

My Grandmothers Hands

Those hands were often rough and calloused

From digging in her garden.

Those hands were working hands.

They kneaded dough to make us bread,

And snapped many bushels of beans.

Those hands would swat us when we needed,

And serve up candies from her apron when we were good.

Those hands taught us how to fold ours,

In prayer,

And turned the pages of the big hymnal.

Those hands cared for babies,

Hers and others.

They cooked and cleaned and washed daily.

Those hands never ceased to work,

To care for her family.

Those were my grandmothers hands.

copyrighted

July 2008

I wrote a whole article about what I remember most about my grandmothers. Describing the wonderful qualities they had, the things I loved about them. I published the article on AC. I want my daughters to know about them. They only new one of my grandmothers and by the time they came to meet her she had alzheimers. They missed out on knowing a wonderful woman. You may read the article here.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/905657/my_grandmothers_hands.html?page=2&cat=25

Have you told your granmother how much she means to you lately? Have you shared with your children her wonderful qualities if she is no longer here on this earth?

You should.....

Altered

Alter, Altered, Alters, Altering

Consider the word altered. Seven letters beginning with the first letter of the alphabet. The word altered can be the beginning of something new and different. The American Heritage Dictionary describes altered as an adjective. The definition used is to change or make different. With Altered Art for instance the artist will take something that already exists and alter it to make it her own. Adding paint, glue, beads, found objects to a car tag for instance, alters the tag and makes it a work of art, possibly a wall hanging. This is done many times throughout ones life. We alter our clothing, our hair, our surroundings. We are forever changing the look of things, walls, furniture; altering our belongings has become a favorite past time for many.

Often we are altered through no circumstances of our own. Something will happen that will forever alter the way we see ourselves or another. This altering may take years, sometimes a lifetime to undo. Sometimes the altering is for the best and should be left undone. Often I wonder if what I see before me is real and unchanged or if it has been altered in some way to present an expected or unexpected view.

Consider the word altered. Have you altered something or someone lately?

Altered States

Sometimes beneath
The manicure and press,
Beyond the eyes
So well dressed,
Lies the venom of
A devoured whole.

Sometimes beneath
The grime of city slime,
Beyond the eyes
Past their prime,
Lies the beauty of
A loving soul.

Dancing

Greetings Sunday,

While browsing the net and checking e-mails last night I came across a post from Eileen Brown. Eileen is the moderator of the A.B.H.P. Network on www.ryze.com among many other things. A copywriter, web designer, etc., she is a professional extraordinaire. You can find out more about Eileen by visiting her Ryze website: http://www.ryze.com/view.php?who=VerbatimEB

But Eileen is not what today's post is about. Through Eileen I found http://actionbites.blogspot.com/. Actionbites is a blog by Lindy Asimus. I had not been to her site before and did look around a bit. This is an amazing woman also. What did attract me to click on the link for actionbites in Eileen's post was the mention of Matt's video. I had heard of the "Where the hell is Matt" video before but had never seen it.

Who is Matt? Why Matt Harding of course. To be honest I don't know who he is but I do know he created a great video on youtube. In his video Matt is dancing in some of the most beautiful, far away places I have never seen, except through his video. Dancing! Yes dancing, and not just Matt but in some of the clips he is dancing with Monks in Laos and children in Mulindi, Rwanda. Even the seals on South Shetland Island seemed to be dancing with Matt. He dances with many in Spain, Ireland, Zambi, Kyrgyrzstan, Poland and many other wonderfully exotic places. He is even shown in the United States with some very beautiful scenery of places I have been to.

While watching these video clips (I ended up going to his youtube site) I wondered has Matt found the solution to World Peace? Is dancing together, laughing, smiling, wiggling; is this what is needed more of to conquer the woos of this world? I don't know about that but it sure is obvious Matt Harding has found the universal language to conquer all barriers wherever he may be, dance. See his videos here on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/mattharding2718

I pray you all are having and will continue to have a wonderful Sunday.
To the dance,
Tess

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is My Mothers Birthday


Greetings everyone,

Today is a very special day. It is my mothers birthday. I wanted to mark her special day by posting something here just for her. Something that not only she would see but everyone would see. My mother and I have not always had the best of relationships. For many years we were completely apart. I found out though that she never gave up on me, not really, not like I had thought. And I thank her for that.



So today I want to wish her not only a Happy Birthday,

but many other things as well.

I could wish that we had never been separated like we were,

but so many lives would be altered if I wish for that, so I can't.

I could wish that she lived closer to me,

but she loves her quiet country home, so I shan't.

So instead I wish for her-

many sunny days to warm her face,

many friends to cheer her when she's down,

good health to keep her active,

enough in her bank account to satisfy her needs-

and a bit more to play with,

enough love to spill out of her heart-

for both her and others,

but most of all,

I wish for her many more lovely years

here with us on this earth.



Happy Birthday Mom, I love you !!!!

Words

Do You Call Your Children Names When You Are Angry or Frustrated?
I wrote this poem many years ago after hearing a father do just that. I hope this poem will give someone the opportunity to think and to change the way they deal with their child and anger.

Words

YOU BRAT!
CUT IT OUT!
WOULD YOU SHUT UP!
YOU UGLY MESS!
BE QUIET!
SIT DOWN...NOW...

Don't yell at me,
Don't scream or shout,
I'm just a child-
An angel in God's eyes,
I look to you for guidance,
A safe comforting voice.
I listen to every word you speak,
And hear you with my heart.
I'm but a child-
And you are my hero,
A giant angel in my eyes.
Please
Don't yell at me,
Don't scream or shout.
I'm just a child-
You're child,
A gift from God,
And I believe-
Every Word You Say!

Now read that last line again. Children really do believe every word we adults use. Our words can lift up a child or tear that child down. It is the same with many adults. We look to each other for guidance, inspiration, acceptance, love; and we can tear each other down with mere words. Let's use kind words today towards ourselves and towards others.