A Birthday Weekend

We took a little trip to the country this weekend. I had a chance to scratch some ears and whisper sweet nothings to my favorite furry beasts. This one is old Tisha...she's one of the boarders my mom is keeping at the farm. She's sort of small and gentle and sweet and lets the others boss her around. She deserved some extra attention I'd say.

We were really there to celebrate my mom's birthday. We all had stuff going on during her actual birthday, so we got together on Saturday night. A fun family supper at the Pizzaria in a neighboring town. Clockwise here is Eric, his dad Bill, my brother Tom, Eric's mom Barb and the birthday girl in the lower left corner.

On the other side of the table were me, my mom the birthday girl, Brian and Billy. Eric and I are so blessed to be able to say that our parents are good friends!

After a wonderful mean we went to Eric's folks house for cake and ice cream. My brother and my mom, Billy lighting the candles and Barb looking on...

...the candles were lit, the song was sung, the candles were blown out and then we had cake...the end.

We didn't get to spend her actual birthday with her...but she was in our hearts all day. Here's a picture of her from Christmas Eve. Happy Birthday Mouse!

We love you more than words can say.

Celebrating the gift of loved ones...it doesn't get much better than that.

A Little Color

Winter is here in full force. If it's not snowing it's cold. If it's not cold it's snowing. Right now it's cold and windy and getting colder for the weekend. The snow isn't bad, the cold I could do without. But it's nice and warm inside. Warm enough for this to happen....

...my cactus is blooming! My poor neglected little cactus. I have two of them, one is possibly older than I am, it came from Eric's grandmother. It's seen better days, but it's hanging in there. I need to take better care of it. This one is old too...from my college days. It needs re-potting. It's seen better days too. I've been thinking about re-potting both of them in a nice pot together. I've been thinking about it for a long time...maybe it's time to focus and get that done! Just to let it know that I appreciate the little spot of color it brings around this time of year!

On another note, I found some of the bird feeders in the house last night....Eric had brought them in because they were frozen shut and he couldn't fill them until they were thawed out.

I think that going to that much trouble to take care of the birds says a lot about a guy...and all of it is good! He has a very tender heart.

Until Next Time

It was time to put it all away. The tree, the garlands, the lights, the stockings...and last but not least the Christmas Village. I had to take one last picture today before it was all boxed up and ready to be stowed under the stairs.

Early in the season when I pull it all out it's fun, it's like greeting old friends that I haven't seen in a long time. By the time I pack it away I'm sort of glad to see it all go...sort of like guests that stay a few days too long. It's been fun but it's time to move on. Good bye horses, houses, trees, snow and village people, see you again in December!

Now if I could just get some help moving the boxes downstairs!

Waking a Sleeping Cat

This is Molly. She likes to sleep. She's sort of like the parent of a teenager, she sleeps with at least one eye partially open. The trouble with that is that it's pretty hard to get a decent sleep when you have one eye opened all the time.

That means you're tired most the time. Then, when you wake up, you kind of look like this...like really? I have to get up? Yep, you have to get up, and no biting anyone.

You have to get up, there are things to do. And when you are done with those things there will be something else to do. And when you are done with that, then you can take a nap in the sun.

Oh...a nap in the sun, I think that was what I needed today!

A Quiet Tuesday

It's been a cold and quiet day here. The boys are back in school, Penny is wondering where everyone has gone.

It snowed again yesterday. This cardinal was waiting for his turn at the bird feeder. With the cold and the snow the feeders have been busy....and hard to keep filled. The fat squirrels might have something to do with that.

I focused on getting some things done today. Some jobs came in yesterday and I sent them off to the printer today. Hopefully a sign of more jobs to come! It was a little (lot) slow over the holidays.

Speaking of holidays, the decorations are coming down tomorrow. I love the lights and the sparkle, but I'm ready for simplicity again. A day to focus on simplicity. Life is good.

A late Christmas

We had a late Christmas / New Year's celebration with a good friend on New Year's day. It feels a little strange to post about Christmas in early January...but the trees still up so what the heck. The tree is holding up pretty well by the way...but I think it will be coming down tomorrow. If you look closely, you can see some unopened packages under the tree. Our friend Bob came over bearing gifts.

What does a bachelor bring to teen aged boys for Christmas?? Guns...that's what! Airsoft rifles...one for Billy...

...and one for Brian. Happy boys! When looking for gifts for teenagers I guess it pays to be a kid at heart. They weren't smiling nearly as much when they opened the clothes that I got them.

But the boys weren't the only ones smiling...Bob brought a gift for Eric too...a laser golf site thing-a-ma-gig. It must have been cool...because Eric is smiling pretty big too! What, you didn't like that shirt I got ya??

But they weren't the only ones smiling...Bob brought me my very own GPS system. I was holding the camera so a web shot of it has to do....but I was smiling too!

We all thought that he got us too much...but as most people know it's the giver that gets the joy when giving the perfect gifts. I think Bob's smile was biggest! Ummm....hey Bob, how'd you like those gloves that we got you?? Whew...glad that wasn't the only gift that we gave!

Can you feel the excitement radiating off of Brian?? Penny wanted to see what was so exciting.

Billy is looking a little to natural with his "airsoft" gun. He's pretty happy too.

I seem to be saying "not in the house" more than ever lately.

Bob brought Penny a gift too. She loves her new baby. Squeak!

Bob even remembered Molly. Hey Molly....what did you get??

Notice the claws...Molly....chill, no one is taking your gift!

Celebrating Christmas with a dear friend, it's wonderful no matter how late it is...and it would have been wonderful no matter what the gifts were...because it's the gift of friendship that matters most. But man...Bob, your gifts rocked!!

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01-03-11 Gratitude: Today I am thankful for dear friends, one last day of Christmas break for the boys and having a simple supper around our kitchen table.

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What are you grateful for?

2011 Word of the Year

Last year, sometime in February, I heard about the idea of selecting a word for the to guide me for the year on rather than making a New Year's resolution. The idea came from Christine Kane...you can read more about it here: http://christinekane.com/blog/resolution-revolution-a-better-way-to-start-your-year/

My word for last year was "Accomplish". It worked for a little bit, but not as well as I had hoped. I was going to pick the same word for this year....because I still want to accomplish things...but since that word didn't really work for me I'm picking a new one. Part of the problem with the word "accomplish" for me was that it was just too big. I had things to do, but if I couldn't finish things I wouldn't start them. Or if I started them I'd lose focus, get distracted, and then not get back to what I was doing.

My second thought for a word for the year was "health". I want to get in better shape, live better, like most people resolve to do in the new year....but I didn't want that to be my only focus.

Then I thought maybe I should focus on "gratitude" this year. But I already am....and I really want to add another good thing to my life.

Another thing I want to focus on this year is taking better pictures. I was thinking about this and a bunch of other stuff when my word for the year jumped out at me and made itself known. It feels right, it feels good....my word for this year is: Focus.

Focus. A perfect word for someone like me that works from home, that has too many distractions everyday that keep me from accomplishing things. I will use it to focus on the tasks at hand, focus on accomplishing what I need to do, focus on getting more design business, focus on my health, focus on gratitude, and focus on taking better pictures (Ha!)

Penny is thinking that I should focus on her everyday all the time....she is one of my distractions during the day....

...but that's ok. A few distractions are good...as long as I can direct my focus back to what I was doing.
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Gratitude:
01-01-11 ~ I am thankful for getting together with an old friend that feels like family.
01-02-11 ~ I am thankful for a quiet Sunday afternoon.
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2011 is going to be a good year. I can feel it. I can focus on it. Wishing you a wonderful 2011 too.