Cloudy Winter day

I suffer from SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. That is when the lack of daylight brings on physical and mental depression symptoms. Winter truly is my least favorite season, due to the lack of sunlight. And today made it worse by being cloudy and gray. I could have slept all day long. Instead I drove to the mecca of fabric, Mary Jo's of Gastonia. It is truly over stimulation for textile lovers! I did exercise plenty of discipline and got out for less than $30 bucks! So now I am partying it up on a Saturday night by sewing! Yee Haw! And to think, I used to enjoy going into a smoky bar, where the music is way too loud, the lights way to low and there is a line for the single, nasty toilet. No thanks. I guess I am S-Q-U-A-R-E. Oh well, my creativity is flowing so I will sign off and leave the partying to others.

The Gift of Friends

My friend Shawn, of Luna Cycles Fame "Bringing Bike culture to the Blue Ridge", has waxed poetic about the beauty of friends and how that beauty seems to glow brighter during the holidays. I agree with him. Maybe it is just that we save up time (those of us in the corporate world) and spend it now, hopefully reconnecting with those who make our lives rich. I had lunch today with 2 of those that glow today. My friend Gretchen (I've known her for about 10 years) and her long time friend CC. We had 2 1/2 wonderful hours of friendship bantering today and it feels like the most wonderful gift and blessing! This goes into my book of "perfect" times. We chatted, laughed, analysed and laughed some more. The 3 of us are very intense, passionate, creative, intelligent, strong women. Feels like the time I spent today made a huge deposit into my support-system account!

Another sunny, glorious day. My husband is still very ill. The doc called in another prescription. Hope this one helps!

As the end of the year approaches, I am thinking about what I want to work on next year. Not really "resolutions", but improvements. This year I worked on not caring if I pissed people off and letting people fail. I feel I improved in those categories. Hm, I certainly want to spend less time worrying and more time doing. I also want to cast off fear. Peace to all.

My Hound, Murray

This is my hound Murray. He is approximately 11 years old. Murray came to me through friends who had found him lying in a busy intersection after being hit by a car. They had him patched up, neutered and fattened, while searching for a permanent home. I was looking for an appropriate pet, having lost one and going without for several years. It was love at first sight. His lineage is suspect; the best guess is Basset Hound/German Shepard. He is very vocal, full of personality, and the absolute best dog I have ever had. He follows me everywhere. He lays at my feet in the evenings as I read. He chases me to bed at 10 each night. If I am staying up later, he sits in the hall giving me a baleful look. Everyone who meets him, loves him. We have a connection that transcends our differences. Murray is always happy to greet me, he cries when he hears my car pull in. He gets very excited when I get his leash, he loves his walks. Murray has a very loud and deep bark, but a very high-pitched whine! He resembles a barrel on short legs. Truly Murray is a gift from God!

Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?

Handsome husband is quite ill. Medical professional ruled it bronchitis on the form, but said it could be either pertussis or pneumonia. Treating him with codiene cough syrup and broad-spectrum antibiotics. Neither of us has slept much. His cough is worse when he lays down. The coughing spells are very dramatic. They last 30-40 minutes and caused his diaphram to spasm. Very scary.
Enjoyed the fabulous weather with a great bike ride today. I made it all the way to the top of the Library Hill! the first time I have made it without stopping!!! I am going to make this short tonight and go create some art.

Still praying for Peace!

PS: I will miss the Godfather of Soul. James Brown, Rest in Peace.

Merry Christmas!

Highlights from Christmas Day 2007 (today)
1. Piercing my son's ear
2. Surprising my handsome hubby with his new Fuji Cruiser
3. The traditional sip of Wild Turkey with my Dad
4. Much laughter with my family
Highlights from last night:
1. My 6 year old niece begging "can we pleeeeease open presents now?"
2. Getting to know my bonus nephew's new wife (she's sweet and beautiful)
3. Much laughter with my husband's family
Highlight of Christmas Night
1. The lights are still beautiful on my tree
2. There is peace on my tiny spot of Earth
3. I STILL don't have to go back to work until next week
I hope you all have peace on your tiny spots of Earth as well. If each of us tries to keep the peace, perhaps it will spread all over.

My words of wisdom for my newly pierced 17 year old man-cub:
"You can't measure yourself with someone else's yardstick"
Enjoy tonight. Kiss and hug someone you love. Laugh, and then laugh some more!

Christmas Eve

Like many on this delicate, beautiful, blue globe, I am wishing for peace. I am also wishing for civility, kindness, consideration and use of common manners. I am wishing for those who work hard and keep their noses clean to be acknowledged. I am wishing I had a real VooDoo doll for a couple of jerks who have me less than happy in the past few weeks. Jerk #1 the A**hole who yelled at me because his company dropped the ball on services they provide for my company and I had the nerve to tell my superiors! To make matters worse, this purveyour of environmental poisons had the gall to call me "honey". Not too smart. Well he images that his wealth and fame will keep the wolf from his door, but I know: what goes around, comes around. I only hope I am around to see him cower and crumble.
Jerk#2 the attention-deficent, sloppy, non-personable wretch who has been the coach of my son's football team. His obvious favoritism for the sons of brown-nosing toadies has reached a new nadir. This sorry excuse for a human (much less coach and teacher of our youth) has shat on my darling man-cub yet again. In today's release of the all-county team, mine was omitted in favor of a couple of mindless cretins. Mine has not missed a practice in 6 years; Started every game this year; and since he cared about his academic standard and did not take "spring sports" last year (for the 3rd time) and took physics instead, my darling got to school at 6:30am each day to ful-fill his mandantory work-outs. Does he get anything for this? No, just a merry f*&%$(g Christmas from his coach. Well, I care. And while I have refused to get involved in a male-dominated arena of controlled agression, I have advised my son that you never regret handling yourself with class. So to counter his immense disappointment, he has opted to channel his frustrations on an early morning bike ride.
If anyone reads this, thanks and go buy something from the guys at Luna Cycles in Lenoir, NC. These guys have taught my son more about how to be classy and professional, working hard while having fun, in 6 months, than the weak, nut-less coaches he has been around for 6 years.

Sunday Race

These pictures are from the Cyclocross Race at Tanglewood on Sunday.
LOTS of fun!

Old dog, new tricks

I am learning how this blog thing works. I tried the diary stuff, but it felt contrived, then whiny.
So I am going to post my stuff: photos, collages, sketches.
I am a visual person...