silver-dollar-sized white stuff fell today

five (really) good things. right now.

1) The house is still clean! Which means the floor is clean. Which means I have space to dance. And this morning I did.*

2) A clean house means a clean kitchen. A clean kitchen means I want to cook. And, so I am. Using the veggies from our (new) organic delivery to make vegetable soup this evening.**

3) Currently on the counter of my clean kitchen, next to the veggies, are freshly delivered preserves. An anniversary gift from my dad that arrived today. Have I mentioned how much I adore peanut butter (or almond butter) and jelly sandwiches? Well, I really love them. I have been known to bring them to potlucks, and people smile when they see them and then talk about the good things of childhood.***

4) Along with the preserves came my delivery from Zappos. Am I the last person to explore the wonder that is zappos.com? Order them yesterday, arrive here today. Try them on and send back (for free) the pairs that don't fit. I bought another pair of these because they are like slippers. But, the other two didn't work, so I will be looking again.****

5) I am getting close to being done with my Christmas shopping. Deliveries are coming everyday lately. So fun to do most of it on etsy and other fantastic online shops...buying handmade is a lot easier than it might seem.*****

What are your five good things? Can you name five right now? Go ahead...I want to hear all about them.

*While listening to Marc Broussard sing "Home."
**Inspired by daisies, I am making it for Jon in the hopes that whatever illness latched on to him last night will decide to ease on down the road.
***Want to come over for a pb&j right now? We can have tea...
****I am looking for two kinds of shoes: a) a sneaker meets a comfortable walking shoe meets something really cute that can be worn with those low running socks. might try another style of keens as my mary janes can't quite pull that off. b) a sandal or sandal-like (and don't wear socks with) shoe that can be worn for walking long distances that is comfortable and doesn't rub (like tevas can) or need to be broken-in. oh. and i want them to be cute too. Any ideas/suggestions?
*****Current favorites I've found while looking for gifts:
these sachets
this print
these earrings (created by this blogger)
this ring
this stationery
this squid (created by this blogger)
these ipod cozies (i love mine!)
this scarf

the lightness and the darkness (self-portrait challenge}

my soul sometimes does not know where to land...in the dark or in the light. the darkness can feed the melancholy and uncertainty and pain. the lightness can feed the same at times. do you notice this? how the lightness can feel heavy when the clouds hide the blue. but there is beauty in both. the light in the darkness can force an unexpected shift in perspective. a cloud can invite relief from the glare. there is hope in the light and the dark.

today, i wear the lightness.

as the rain drips steadily this time of year, i seek the lightness. when the sun sneaks out behind that steady drum of wetness, i seek the warmth. i look out the windows until i find a little spot of sunlight; then i put on shoes and zero in on it. even if it means standing in the street.

i want to wear the unwavering lightness of the sun.

today, i wear the darkness.

as the darkness envelopes our little home, i feel cocooned in evening. the ritual of closing the blinds and lighting candles and straightening a bid. a ritual almost forgotten but remembered today as evening knocked at the door.

i want to wear the darkness of twilight and dancing candlelit shadows.

(see what others are wearing at self-portrait challenge)

eight things (plus one) i have thought about in the last hour or so.

it rains here. sometimes it rains here a lot. (like right now as the rain is pounding the roof.)

i might have had my least stressful holiday ever this thanksgiving. (good food, great company, napping, laughter, no yelling or pouting or disappointment or...how the list goes on.)

if i spend most of a day putting together a jigsaw puzzle, i will try to finish it in my sleep. (but i won't be successful as the puzzle in my dreams looks nothing like the puzzle on my living room table.)

i do like walking in circles. (even though i took a break for a little while, i didn't forget how. well, this helps.)

i wish my friend heather lived here. i miss her terribly. (millie misses her too.) i want her to move in across the street. (or at least win the lottery so she can visit more often...or have a second house here...or something. at least we know we are going to move to the same city when we retire. we haven't lived in the same city ever really. except boarding school but we weren't really friends then so it doesn't count.)

i want to stop the need to explain or fill up empty space with explanation. (i found myself doing this in a phone conversation today. it was odd. and it left me feeling kind of odd.)

when the house is clean, i feel lighter. (and am more likely to decorate for christmas.)

i am really good at planning trips to WDW. (when you are planning your next one, we should talk. seriously. i am really really good at it.)

i am really hungry and just can't stand the thought of having more leftovers for dinner or anything containing turkey or potatoes. (pizza and beer anyone?)

plus one (because i thought about this after choosing a picture for this post):

i love it when i can smell oranges on my fingers. like i can right now. because i had an orange a bit ago. (still hungry though.)

growth.

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.

Anais Nin

i wear handmade {self-portrait challenge}

late afternoon with millie, 20 november 2007

estella necklace by jen, birdhouse pendant by stephanie, mitts by jmaccknit, my little black dress (in grey) by treehouse 28

hat by jmaccknit and earrings by sulu

i am enjoying bringing more and more handmade items into my wardrobe. shopping more on etsy and at art+craft fairs and less in the big box stores.

it feels more like me to wear these pieces...

i took the handmade pledge a week weeks back, which means i am giving only handmade gifts for the holidays this year and asking for handmade gifts.

so lots of time spent on etsy...i mean a lot of time spent on etsy.

some new favorites (these are all in the "made by yarn" category):

these mitts
this capelet
and this capelet
this hat
this blooming brooch
this apple jacket

one idea i want to pass on to you is to check out the favorites of other etsy folks. you can find their lists right in the sidebar of their shops or in their profiles. even if you don't have an etsy shop, you can create a profile and start adding items and shops to your favorites, and then you can share the link to your favorites with your loved ones so that they know what you might want this holiday season...go on...buy (and ask for) some handmade gifts...

posing, 20 november 2007

i took so many photos today, that by the time i posed for this one i was cracking up at the oddity of taking self-portraits...thought it might resonate with some of you...

oh and see what others are wearing here

a selma quilt (for your neck)

Selma and me, 1977

I remember sitting on the guest bed, my fingers tracing stitching, patches of fabric, and yarn ties, my eyes searching the quilt my great-grandmother made for my brother when he was born. There it is. I found the fabric, my favorite pattern, the "I can't believe Great-Grandma even knows what this is" fabric. I would look at each log cabin square, trying to imagine what a large piece of these slivers of fabric would look like. The one I always searched for? Smurfs. Yes, smurfs. A quilt for a boy in the eighties would have of course contained such fabric.

This memory came to me as I sewed this scarf a few weeks ago. I have sewn a few more lately...

the stepping outside into the first snowfall scarf

And, as I sew these patchwork scarves, I think about you...I think about you sitting on the train after work, waiting in the car for your children after school, sitting under a maple tree writing in your journal, reading blogs while everyone else is asleep, standing in line at the grocery store, sipping tea in your studio, resting by a creek, knitting in your favorite leather chair...I think about you tracing your finger over each stitch and each patch of fabric...I think of you searching. There it is.

the autumn is my spring scarf

(I have put a few of these Selma scarves in the shop.)

five {my sacred life}

on friday, we celebrated five years of marriage. it feels like a very big deal, in a very good way. as i wrote out the card i gave jon, i was thinking about how much fun we had during our wedding ceremony. yes, i said fun. about two minutes after i got to the front of the church, we looked at each other with this understanding that we were getting to the good part. i recall standing there and just soaking it all up. i wanted to remember everything. and somehow i was able to observe it all happening while being very present.

the planning of our wedding was a bit (okay more than a bit) stressful. for lots of reasons. and to get to this part, the beginning of us, was such a reward for all that stress.

so we had fun. so much fun. and we felt the love of family and friends and community. and all the special moments, the little touches that were so important to me, made a difference in making it what it was meant to be. i loved that day.

today, we are at the good part. the hard, crazy, painful, beautiful, amazing good part. the part that stretches you more than ever dreamed you could stretch. the part that forces you to look inward when you would rather look out. the part that reminds you of all that is good about love and truth. the part that has you wondering and believing. the good part. the part where you remember why you said yes to possibility and yes to hope and yes to one another. the part where you reach out your hand and know someone will be there to hold you.

(visit other sacred sundays here)

*******

and i want to say today: thank you...all of you...for your comments and emails. your kindness fills my heart up with all that is good. bless you.