Wildlights at the zoo

I got the most wonderful Christmas present from my husband. I got a membership to the Columbus Zoo. We have talked about getting one for some time, but just never took the step to get one. Now with our family growing like crazy, a new baby and a new son-in-law (not in the same nuclear family, mind you), now we can take advantage of some of the wonderful things going on at the zoo, and take guests with us. We get free parking and are able to enter at a no waiting area. We went to "Wildlights" on Saturday night and it was absolutely spectacular. The lights are absolutely brilliant and are just absolutely everywhere. We weren't able to stay long, although we did wait in line on the street for over an hour, but I was able to get a few pictures. I am hoping to get back this week to get more pictures, but the last day is January 3, so we'll see if I really make it.

I am still learning to take night pictures. My camera has a night setting, but am unsure if the flash should be on or off. The pictures here do not do justice to the beauty of the lights.

I found the following pictures on Flickr, which are much better than mine.

Musings (for the new year)

As the events of the past year wind down toward an end and the new year approaches, I have had an opportunity to reflect on my life and the lives of others; how we interact and relate and expectations that we have of each other and society in general. Winter has been difficult for me over the past 10-15 years, due to the seasonal affective tendencies that I have, so perhaps my musings are a little on the heavier side, but they are still a part of me. I am just going to ramble a bit.

In a nutshell, I think that life can be so hard when it comes to negotiating other peoples expectations. I think that most people, including myself, do the best that they can when it comes to doing the right thing and being a good person. We all have baggage, some more than others and it affects how we relate, adjust and behave. It seems that those with less baggage and cleaner, more adjusted lives have higher expectations due to their inexperience with difficulties and life's stumbling blocks. I think that I have had a fair amount of baggage, less than some and more than others; and I always try to look behind the 'supposed errors' that people make to give them the benefit of the doubt. I certainly don't always succeed. I am, after all, human. I think the difficulties in life sometimes give you a more balanced view of others and the fact that their behavior may result from their background and history.

It makes life difficult when people don't stop and take a minute to assess where another may be coming from. It makes life difficult when you know that your baggage may pass on to others, whether it be family or other people and put them into the unfortunate position of having to defend themselves against your baggage. It may be outright or very subtle, but it is hurtful to multiple people.

I heard a sermon once by a very wise pastor of ours. In fact, I swear this is true, his name was Pastor Wise. It has been years ago, so I really don't remember the entire thing, but one point has absolutely stuck with me for all of these years. The example was the classic tale of someone stealing from a grocery store, only to find out later that they were stealing because of no money and their children were hungry. The point which I try very hard to incorporate into my life is that in many situations, there is that one little bit of information that changes the whole situation. So often, we forget to consider that other little bit of information that changes everything.

None of us is perfect and I am far from it, but we all try to the extent that we can. I hope to continue to work on having understanding and compassion for others. Sometimes, it is easy to have it inside and harder to display it. That also is a goal of mine. I would also just urge others to look behind the action (or lack of action) that you consider wrong or out of order in an individual, to that little bit of information that may change the 'color' of the whole situation.

For the little things, I think it is important to put our little grievances to the "How important is it" test. Or from a well known author.. "Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff"

If you have stayed with me this far, I commend you. This has been cathartic for me. Thanks for listening and I promise that I will now go back to my friendly, happy and fun posts. Have a wonderful new year!!

photo courtesy of Flickr

Button Bouquets

Once again I have found the blog of an absolutely incredibly creative person. I had to share it with you. This is another example of the absolutely unending creativity of people that absolutely awes me and opens up my eyes to the world of art and ingenuity. I love these bouquets. She does bridal bouquets, and other really cool items. You really should click on the link. You will not be disappointed, plus I will be adding it to my favorites. I chose the pink for Abby and the red for Christmas, but all of them are amazing.

My favorite ornaments

Silent Night, Holy Night

From a secret Santa

From a friend

Made by the girls

I was sitting in my living room gazing at our beautiful Christmas tree and admiring the many beautiful ornaments that we have collected over the years. I thought I might share a few of my favorites with you, although it is very difficult to pick out favorites when I love them all. I have given some ornaments to the girls now that they have started lives of their own. I gave them any that they made, or were given to them by relatives and friends. We still have a wealth of ornaments and they all mean something. They have been given to me or Leon; or we have gotten them on our vacations. Very few, if any, ornaments are actually bought from the local department store specifically to obtain decorations for the tree. They all have some meaning. We have always gotten a real tree every year and this may be the last year. It becomes more and more expensive every year (this years tree was $65) and although the process is very special, it is wearing to have to get the tree home and wrestle it into a stand. We have often gone and cut our own, which makes it a bit cheaper, but that too adds to the work, as well. So, next year, we are considering an artificial tree. There is a part of me that is very sad, but I guess it is inevitable.

From our vacation to Gloucester, Massachusetts

A handcarved piece I gave to Leon

Little house that lights up - I just like it

Happy Heart Princess

Well, another member of my family has joined the blogging world. This world is quite captivating and there are just so many reasons that it appeals to people. I have just enjoyed the writing experience. I seem to write better than I speak, in many instances. It provides a way to allow people to peek into your life and gain inspiration for many things. It allows family members to keep in touch and many people use blogging to help promote their creations.

This brings me to the new member of my family to enter blogging, my sis. She is the creator of a book called the Happy Heart Princess and has them for sale on her new blog. You can keep up with her there, and her ventures and (ad)ventures. You may even hear about her loves: Kita, the cat and Joey and Baby, her dogs. Baby has an especially interesting story, which may make it onto her blog.

She also does individualized princess paintings of children based upon their interests and characteristics. Take a look, maybe you will see something you like! I have added her blog to my favorites list.

Quiche - with my new mixer

My new mixer!!!


I had a taste for quiche last weekend and decided to break out my new birthday mixer that I got from Matt, Carrie and Abby and just go ahead and make some up. Now my birthday is actually today, but they gave me my gift when I was there for Thanksgiving.

The mixer that I had was a joke to them and probably to anyone else who saw it, but it worked and in the -recycle it instead of buying new- green environment that is so prevalent and popular today, my mixer was quite the trendy mixer. At least it took a long time to get it to a landfill. Please allow me a bit of license to ramble a bit while I describe it. It was a 34 year old burst of power Sunbeam portable mixer. The color was a beautiful gold. The slide switch that you use to change the speeds had fallen off many years ago and I just used the metal "sticky out thing" that the plastic switch had fallen off of. It worked just fine. Somewhere throughout the years, the cord got lost as well. It was a cord with one end that plugged into the mixer and the other end plugged into the outlet. Somehow, I ended up with two cords that I could use on it, one was for the electric knife and I really don't know where the other one came from. The problem was that neither cord really fit quite right, so I either had to hold the cord into the mixer while I held the mixer with the other hand; or I had to plug it back into the mixer every three seconds. That part really was a pain!!!!! Anyhow, that mixer made a lot of cookies, beat a lot of potatoes, and other various items. It was a part of our family and the kids will always remember 'Moms mixer' and laugh. That alone is worth it. It is now a part of our family history, slight though it may be. A little thing, but kind of fun to think about it and you gotta give me credit for 'being green'.

So the first thing that I used my new mixer on was a spinach quiche. At Lyndsay's shower, they had a spinach dish that was so good, so I looked for a recipe and made a quiche. It was UmmmUmmm Good!! And really easy, which certainly helps with the 'intimidation' factor. I will include the recipe, although I just found it on the foodnetwork website.

Here it is:
4 eggs
1 C half and half
1/2 C Mayonnaise
2 T Flour
Mix in a medium mixing bowl

Add:
1/3 C minced onions
Salt and garlic powder to taste
8 oz. of swiss or cheddar cheese (I used cheddar)
1 pkg frozen spinach (I thawed, drained and squeezed the liquid out - but the recipe didn't say you had to)

Pour into a prepared pie shell (I cheated and bought one). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hr. (mine took a full hour).

Ready for the oven!!!!!

The final product-- Yumm!!

Your personal rainbow

I came across this little fun website that gives you a personalized rainbow, based upon how you answer some preference questions. Kind of interesting and I was very surprised by how my rainbow turned out. Very boring actually! I found the site on another blog and her rainbow had all the colors. I'm not sure if I'm weird or just like blue. Give it a try.

Your rainbow is intensely shaded blue, violet, and white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it. People depend on you to make them feel secure.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Hey Mom, What's for dinner (Thanksgiving Day)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Carrie and Matts house. And of course, Abby was all excited about Thanksgiving and so this picture is absolutely great. The adults were all hustling around trying to get the food around and get all those last minute details taken care of before sitting down together. I couldn't resist the opportunity to snap this picture of Abby patiently waiting for the big turkey to appear.

Of course, Matt was working hard on it and eventually we all sat down and had turkey.
We also had to watch Lissy, until Chad saw to it that her hands were safely out of the way.

Brides, brides, everywhere brides

The finalists


Okay, everyone, Strike a Pose

My weekend was filled with fun, starting with Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, to a movie with Abby to Texas hold 'em (where I lost it all) to a bridal shower for our cousin and family members that I really love. But now I am home, and despite all the family, warm fuzzies and fun, it is where I am glad to be. There is no place like home! But I would love to share some of my weekend with you. I think I will split up the posts, just so that the titles are relevant.

I have to share the shower for those of you there and those of you who couldn't make it. Most women have played the tissue paper bridal gown game at a shower, and this one was no exception. Darling Taya ( I want to say little, even though she is now a gorgeous young woman), put together a really fun shower with great games, great food and great people. We had five teams putting together the bridal gowns and although I thought my own daughter looked terrific, my team with the Ellie as the bride outshone them all. We went for the ruching (very trendy these days), constructed a bustle and did a grecian thing with the ribbon. Very cool, I do think!!

In order, from left to right, they are Ellie, Melissa, April, Not sure of name (Lyndsays friend) and Craig's mom (can't remember name)

Of course, when Lyndsay picked the winner, she stepped forward and you can see the result.

They just don't make them like they used to!!!
We had a great time!!!! Thanks Taya and Kyla!!!


Now for the Bride to be -- whose big day is coming up very soon. Here she is!!! She got lots of cool stuff and is ready to start making cookies. Sounds like Craig is quite the chef as well, a man of great qualities, in my opinion. Personally, my girls and myself have similar tastes (or requirements) in our men. You gotta have a man that cooks, right, girls!!!

Lyndsay, I just thought you looked so beautiful yesterday. Here you are with your ribbon bouquet (designed by April).

But I really liked this picture of you, as well!
A great day!!!!

Getting crafty

Well, I have not posted for a while for several reasons. I have been swamped at work and when I get home I just want to veg out. Then I caught Leon's cold and have not felt well for several days. But I have kept going and now it's the weekend. I am working on some crafts and wanted to share them. I am hoping to maybe be able to share them in our little open house at work. It started last year and we are doing it again, so I thought I'd join in and make something to sell. So, at the moment I am making little purses, hair yoyo's and yoyo ornaments. The theme here clearly is yoyos since the little purses sometimes have yoyos on them as well, as you can see by the picture. I have a long way to go, but have nothing to lose since I am using all material and embellishments that I already have. I am including a photo of the little purse. I came up with the strap idea from another blog where the gal was making bandana bracelets. Go to July 30 on the link. Thinking that the sort of grunge, rustic look might appeal to teenagers and young adults, I decided to give it a go. What do you think?

Abracadabra

I promise I will add more pictures this weekend, but in the meantime, I came across this one. I had to share it and the story behind it. Lissy gave Abby a bag of princess type toys for her flower girl gift. It had a cute crown, a feather boa and among other things, a wand. Well, Abby loves this wand. It is sparkly, lights up and has ribbons and other embellishments that hang from it. She absolutely loves it!!!!! You can't see it real well in the picture, but it goes so great with her beautiful dress.

I do!!!

Monday morning and the house is quiet. The happy couple is in Cancun on their very special honeymoon, swimming with dolphins and with each other. All the pre-wedding stress has melted away and I do believe I can feel them glowing all the way from their honeymoon. Carrie, Matt and Abby are back at home in Indianapolis and be assured that Abby is still thinking about how fun it was to dance at the reception. Carrie, I am sure, is beginning to settle into her last months of anticipating the birth of their second little flower girl. Matt is back at work; and Leon left about an hour ago, with only a head cold as a remnant of the weekend.

It was a beautiful wedding with all the appropriate hugs and tears; family and friends; drama and fun; in other words--it was perfect!!

I have just one final comment, although I will have more to blog about at the days go by. I was so incredibly proud of my family. You all just did me proud!! and that just felt so good!! I gotta go, before I get this computer all wet. I love you all!!!! and I love you all as though you were the very first person in my life, but will list you in the order in which you came into my life---------- Sandi; Carrie; Lissy; Leon; Matt; Abby; Chad and our new little one to come.

President Elect Barack Obama

picture from Flickr

How absolutely wonderful for Pres. Obama and for our country. I am personally pleased at the result of the election, on so many levels. I am happy for this gentle, steady man who has run such a clean and fair campaign and his lovely wife, Michelle and beautiful little girls.

I am happy for the African American people who have endured such a long road to dignity and recognition of their worth and contribution to this country.

I am happy for the entire country as we attempt to turn this country around under the leadership of this very able and talented new president.

I am happy for all the other groups of diversity that will benefit from this heightened sense of unity and 'liberty for all' - from blacks to women to ethnic groups to senior citizens to the poverty-stricken. All will be affected for the positive, perhaps just a little bit or maybe profoundly.

I feel hopeful about our environment, our economy, our global relationships, our children's future and our values as a country.

Absolutely amazing!!

I am so blown away by the talent and creativity of people that I would have never known about, except for the advent of the internet. I found one of those people in the Etsy site and had to share. She does pencil pins and pendants and they are just so cool and so unique. Wouldn't they be a great gift for an accountant or an artist? She currently has 20 items for sale. I chose the red white and blue to show you, because of the upcoming election and the other one just because I like it. Sometime, when you have a chance to just peruse the Etsy site, you should do that. Some of these people just put my feeble attempts at creativity to shame. I wish I had their talent!!!!

Last weekend at Old Man's Cave

Old Man's Cave

Having read most of the Jean Auel books on the pre-civilization period, I could just imagine the characters in those books setting up house in these caves, which their handmade tools and utensils. I could imagine their rituals and daily activities. It made those books seem so much more real and I read them probably 10 years ago. If you haven't read them, you should consider it.






I am just now getting around to sharing our trip to Old Man's Cave in the Hocking Hills last weekend. We have been meaning to get to the area ever since we moved to Columbus 8 years ago. Finally, last weekend, we took off in the car and headed down to the Hocking Hills, with Old Man's Cave as our ultimate destination. From what we could tell, there is just a ton of stuff to do in that whole area, but with just a few hours to spend, we decided that Old Man's Cave would be a great way to spend the afternoon. The weather was great with crisp temperatures and a nice mix of sun and clouds. We stopped at the welcome center to get some literature on the area and the specific directions to the cave and then headed down the road for our 'walk in the cave'. And what a cave it was. It was truly different that what I expected, because there was no "deep in the earth" cave. It is really just a cave-ish area with areas that recede into the earth just a little bit. We walked through the cave, across a couple of bridges, up rock steps, down rock steps, around corners and even through a couple of rock tunnels. It is a really cool place and I am so glad we went. I woke up sore for the next two mornings. I am really a bit embarrassed to say that, but let's face it, we just don't have places like that in Columbus to get that sort of a work-out. It took us about an hour and a half to walk the trail that we chose.

After leaving the cave, we headed a bit farther down the road to check out a very famous tourist stop in the area. We had seen signs about it all along the road, and just had to check it out. Once we pulled into the parking lot, the charm and popularity of the place was very clearly evidenced and influenced by the very well-chosen name of the stop. You can see by the sign what a wonderful place it must be!!!!!!!



After turning back towards home, we stopped at a little commercial area on 33 where we saw a genuine looking diner, thinking that we would have lunch there. We parked the car behind the diner and headed to the front door - the diner was so cool looking, all shiny metal and just the 'picture' of the old time diner. We were so excited, but as we approached the door, we saw that the restaurant was not yet open. I didn't get a picture. We were disappointed, but managed to find another little cafe for lunch and browsed through some flea markets there in the shopping area.

We headed on home tired and happy. It was a nice trip!!!

Jack O Lanterns

Well, it is the day before Halloween and we finally got our pumpkins carved. We started them around 8:30 pm and finished about 9:00 pm. I remember when we were kids, we couldn't wait to carve our pumpkins and usually did them so early that they ended up rotting before Halloween. Then when the girls were little, it was so fun to watch them and help them get their pumpkins carved, that we got them done in plenty of time. But now it's just the two of us and we are trying to stay excited and involved about the holidays, but I must admit that sometimes it is just hard to muster up the interest and motivation. The important thing is that they will be on our doorstep when the little trick or treaters come by tomorrow evening. I will let you guess which one of us did which pumpkin. I think they are both quite cute!

Three more blogs I love

I was blog surfing and decided that I wanted to add a couple more of my favorites to my blogs list. One of them is another designer and she is just so cosy. I say that because her blog name is Posy gets Cosy and she is just really a lover of life in so many ways and you just really appreciate the little things right along with her. I read her blog at least once every few days.

Another one that I visited regularly several months ago and then lost track of was a gal who lived in the Arctic Circle. She often writes about the weather and takes fabulous pictures of the area. I think she changed her blog address although the name of the blog is the same. It is called The Pancake Chronicles and I was delighted to find her again. She loves where she lives and is fun to read, especially in the winter time.

One more that I want to share is a young mother living in England, taking care of her family and knitting delightful little animals, including Little Cotton Rabbits. She has two children, one of who is an autistic boy and she shares her life and struggles in her blog. She is also an amazing knitter. Her animals are absolutely amazing. One of these days I am going to buy one of them.

My arms are ready!

As the day grows closer for the birth of our second grandchild, this little one, still unseen, enters my mind more and more often. I realize that my arms are ready for an infant. Perhaps you have heard the saying 'her arms ached for a baby'. There is something to be said for that sentiment. To hold that child in my arms and then watch her grow, as I have watched Abby grow will be an amazing thing. They really do grow too fast, don't they.

I hope to take advantage of this opportunity, as well, to spend more time with my Abby. This is an opportunity to make good on all the good intentions that I had with my own two girls.

Sugar and Spice and all things nice - Girls, they seem to come in twos! We would have loved to have a little boy, but how exciting that Abby will have a sister. And we will have another little one to love.

I love pumpkins!!! (at the Circleville pumpkin show)

Saturday afternoon Leon and I ventured out into the wonderful fall air and headed south to the great and renowned Circleville Pumpkin Festival. We have been there a couple of times and it really is a great experience. However, we haven't been there for a couple of years, so it was great fun to get back to our fall routine. I love pumpkins and all the autumn 'decor', the gourds and leaves and crisp temperatures. I wanted to get lots of pictures of the pumpkin display, which is absolutely outstanding and would like to share them with you. Oh by the way... I tried the pumpkin brownie and had the standard pumpkin pie. Leon had a pumpkin burger and we shared pumpkin seeds on the way home.

This was my very handsome date.