"Follow your heart wherever it takes you, and be happy. Life is brief and very fragile, and only loaned to us for a while. Wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful is about to happen." ~Flavia I read this quote online today, and I realized, this is exactly the way I try to live my life every day. I believe what Anne Shirley says, "Each day is brand new, without any mistakes in it." So no matter what happened yesterday, I can start off today with a fresh, brand new day that is just ripe and waiting with all sorts of wonderful possibilities. Not that yesterday was bad, far from it. And this morning I awoke in darkness, with rain and wind lashing against our windows. I loved picking out warmer clothes, PowerPuff Girl socks to wear around the office, and making myself a huge mug of tea. I never know what wonderful thing is going to happen next, and I always make sure I leave myself wide open for plenty of magic to enter in. ps ~ not sure what happened to the comments, looks like the hoster is out of commission. I'll hafta do some investigative work.

Found a delightful site that's a joyful look at creativity. Check it out and recharge your batteries: Being an Artist.

I'm sleepy and still have to make trays of baked ziti, so I'm short on energy right now. However, this is true: I WAS A SWEET CHILD
you're parents were lucky with you. you're sweet.
innocent. helpful. and cute.
what kind of child were you?
(brought you by april)

I don't get this whole "American Idol" craze. First off, where is the fun in seeing talented people pour their hearts out on stage only to get trashed by Simon, the Nazi judge? I know he's controversial, and probably the only reason this show gets ratings, but I don't get any pleasure in seeing people's dreams get ripped apart. It's just plain evil. {I'm sure that's also reality, but there's a reason I'm not in showbiz.} I heard him on the car radio this morning when a station was having a contest that he was judging. I sang 30 seconds of "New York State of Mind" to myself in the car, knew I would have beat both the contestants on the radio, didn't want the prize anyway, and turned off the radio in disgust. That show reminds me of the Harry Chapin song, "Mr. Tanner." I'll keep singing for joy, thank you.

I just found out that Matt Robinson passed away. He was the original Gordon on Sesame Street and also Roosevelt Franklin, one of my all-time favorite muppets. We had the "My Name is Roosevelt Franklin" album growing up and we used to sing and dance around to it. What I never understood until I got older was that almost all the songs were about racial equality. I just liked the songs and thought they all applied to me too, a little white girl in the suburbs. I think that was their point exactly. So last night I took out the record and listened {and boogied down} to my two favorites from the album: here are the liner notes from the back of the record. The Skin I'm In: That's Baby Ray singing about how happy he is about the color of his skin and what he looks like and what his family looks like. And you should be happy about your skin, too. Days of the Week: They are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. When my friends and I get through with this song we make those days get up and sit down and turn around upside down. {I love this song — any time we eat eggs I have to sing "Woke up Tuesday, ate my grits and eggs. I put shoes on my feet, but first, I put socks on my legs." I also love that the kids want to know the days of the week and Roosevelt Franklin agrees only if they'll get him a plate of string beans.}

(Sigh) Lots of hiking, lots of time spent with the hubby, and a teeny little bit of journaling. So much for the all-knitting, all-painting extravaganza. I get really frustrated when I have all these good ideas buzzing around in my head, and no time to put it all down. If I didn't need to sleep or eat, what a lot of great stuff I could do! The only thing is, I happen to like eating and sleeping an awful lot. Somewhere there's got to be a balance and I will be looking for it diligently. I had a birthday this past week, and the chance to get all introspective, and the one truth I came up with is this: if I have another year that was as filled with living as last year -- and some parts of it were very hard to get through and some parts were just glorious -- I will be pretty darn happy. I have a good feeling this year will be quite event-filled and exciting.

I'm taking a week away from the computer to spend more time with the good things in life: painting, books, journalling, and my husband {although not necessarily in that order}. In the meantime, you can get your fill of french toast here.

5 years ago today, right about now, I was walking down the aisle with my parents to "Our Love Is Here to Stay", arranged by us and sung by my acappella group. I wore my Grandma's dress with a train that was about as long as I am tall. I wasn't a bit nervous, I was thrilled and full of joy to finally be marrying the love of my life. I knew he was absolutely the right one for me. And it's only gotten better.

Song that... Reminds you of an ex-love: Right Here Waiting — Richard Marx Reminds you of an ex-friend: don’t have any ex-friends! (at least, not that I can think of….) Reminds you of your childhood: The Muppet Show theme song Makes you cry: Shower the People – James Taylor Makes you laugh: Amish Paradise/the whole Weird Al catalogue Makes you wanna dance: I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine— James Brown Reminds you of the one you want: Annie’s Song — John Denver Makes you very, very sleepy: Pachebel’s Canon in D You wish you wrote: Hold My Hand — the Rutles You wish had been written for you: She’s Got A Way — Billy Joel Fills you with complete joy: Sir Duke — Stevie Wonder You never want to hear again: anything from Britney Spears You want to get married to: Our Love is Here to Stay (we did get married to it!) You want played at your funeral: What a Wonderful World — Louis Armstrong Makes you want to mosh/slam dance: Hello, Dad, I'm in Jail! — Was Not Was Sums up your teenage years: Every single Beatles song You used to hate but now love: Touch Me — the Doors You like to wake up to: Great Day — Paul McCartney You like out of your parents record collection: Old Man River — Jim Croce Your parents like out of your collection: River of Dreams — Billy Joel You love that you wouldn't know about if it wasn't for a friend: My Shoes — The Bobs Makes you think of someone who died: Someone Who Cares — Paul McCartney You love the video more than the tune: Keep Fishin’ — Weezer Reminds you of your first crush: who the heck remembers? You love which is from one of your favorite movies: Storybook Love — from the Princess Bride Makes you think of the moon: Voyage of the Moon — Donovan Makes you think of sex: Let’s Get it On — Marvin Gaye (esp. from Austin Powers….) Makes you think of being alone: American Tune — Paul Simon You love to hear at clubs: don’t go to clubs, but if I did: Mo Money Mo Problems thanks to grammardog

It's finally here: the HOW section. Want tips on starting your own website? Want my favorite french toast recipe? Wait no longer! Learn HOW. Now!

This morning as I was eating my blueberry pancakes, I realized that I was SO not dressed interestingly enough to meet such a gorgeous day. {I was dressed for work in a long sleeved t-shirt and jeans.} So I ran upstairs and changed into a maroon ruffled peasant blouse and a black velvet vest and put tiny glittery clips in my hair. I snipped a perfect hydrangea blossom off the bush by our porch on the way to work and stuck it in my backpack, and then I felt ready for whatever magic the day might bring. ps: happy birthday, Trish!

Went chalking this morning: "But if you have nothing to create, then perhaps you can create yourself," from Carl Jung. It reminds me of when I was in middle school and didn't fit in — I didn't know how to be popular, I didn't know how anything about fashion, I didn't know how to talk to boys; the only thing I knew how to be was myself. Luckily, I stuck with what I knew and the rest of the world caught up to me. (hee hee hee) I'm happy to be a late bloomer. Plans for this morning: making blueberry pancakes and watching Sesame Street before work. Telly just played "In A Gadda Da Vida" on the tuba. I don't like the new format of the show (okay, I hate it), but at least I know that at 7:30 every morning I'm guaranteed to see Ernie.

Surefire proof that talent runs in the family: here's a screencap from the latest movie of my godson, Joey, Jedi in training: My brother did all the sounds, created the little robot, and of course, made the lightsaber. I wish I could post the movie, but it's too big and I don't have the bandwidth for all that downloading. For now, you'll hafta just imagine. It's simply fantastic. As Joey says, "Just like Yoda!" They're probably just about the same height, too. In other exciting news: I was listed as one of SARK's "websight" resources in her August e-newsletter (the theme this month is Living Juicy)! I have to write a nice thank you letter. Right away. Yow.

You're Nut, the goddess of the sky. You have blue skin and stars all across your body. Pardon the pun, but you're pretty spacey.
What Egyptian Deity are you? go to:the quiz! {found this from Ubiquitous Pixie.} Today I'm going home to watch my little sister Mary's graduation as it's webcast from Arizona State University. And one final note: there are now 13 shopping days till my birthday, 7 more days until our 5-year wedding anniversary, and 29 more days until Paul's birthday. It's a beautiful month.