The Next Chapter - Happy Friday!

Yay! It's Friday again - something that always makes me happy!

The Bliss groups copy of The Happy Book has made it's way to Meg's in Australia - long journey for a little book!

Pieces of Happy for me this week include:

* Watching the Olympics - Go Canada!! Some awesome moments by Alexandre Bilodeau, Maelle Ricker and Christine Nesbitt, not to mention some nail biting good hockey from the Men's Hockey team :)

* Even better than watching the Olympics, is watching them with the boys - it's been wonderful to have the college kid home from school this week.

* My new camera - loving the new Canon Power Shot.

* The weather - despite a cold, crappy start to the week, it turned out spectacularly sunny for the end of the week. I'd love more of that, please!

* Steak supper, cooked on the BBQ - yum!

What made you happy this week? * o

The Next Chapter - Happy Friday!

The Next Chapter - Happy Friday!

Hey it's Friday again and time for The Happy Book update!

Featured on The Next Chapter blog, a fabulous slideshow by Nadia of her time with The Happy Book. The Bliss circle's copy is still making it's way to Australia.

And here's what is making up my pieces of happy this week:

1) One more day and the college kid will be home with us for a week!

2) Making my plans to go on retreat in May at Sisters of St. John the Divine, where I'll get to hear Phyllis Tickle!

3) Going out for chinese food tomorrow

and finally,

4) taking part in the Virtual Retreat this weekend - tonight and on Sunday! So pumped to be listening tonight to Patti Digh, and Fabeku Fantenmuse!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend! * o

The Next Chapter - Happy Friday!

The Next Chapter - Happy Friday!

The Bliss groups copy of the The Happy Book is on it's way to Meg in Australia - meanwhile, check out Gina's video tour of Sacramento where the book just was!

And here's a piece of happiness from me this week:

From Random

Hard to believe this fine young man has turned seventeen today!! (PS - don't tell him I posted this pic, he won't be impressed!!)

Happy Friday! * o

The Next Chapter - Happy Friday!

The Next Chapter - Happy Friday! (on Saturday)

The Next Chapter book for the Bliss group hasn't arrived at it's first destination yet, Gina's in California, but meanwhile over on the TNC blog everyone is sharing pieces of happiness for Happy Friday!

So I'm a day late posting, but last night I was staying off the computer and sharing some quality time with the hubby while we watched a few episodes of Season One of "Bones" - which is one of the things that makes me happy, and my favorite source of "down time"!

A busy week, but I have been doing some shedding of responsibilities and tasks that it is time to let go of. This shedding is also a source of happiness as I feel lighter and more focused on the things I want to do.

And tonight, another does of happy - visiting and sharing a meal with good friends!

And that's the Happy Post for this week! * o

The Next Chapter - Happy Friday! (on Saturday)

Quiet Saturday Night

Painted this watercolor landscape last weekend as one of my assignments. I'm still really trying to get the hang of watercolors and mixing colors, there were parts of this that just didn't come out as dark as I wanted them to. But I have to admit I do like playing with them and it doesn't take long for a couple of hours to just fly by!

Spent the day on chores and errands and catching up on stuff. Had a great veggie pizza for supper and am now preparing to relax for the rest of the evening. The College Kid headed back on the bus this morning, and the High School Kid is out spending the evening with friends so the house has once again settled into quiet.

I found some instructions this week for making prayer ropes, so I might just grab some cord, sit down on the couch with the hubby and while he's watching TV, see if I can't figure out how to make the knots. Depending on how it goes, I may just give up real quick! :) * o

Quiet Saturday Night

Bits and Pieces of Things

Today's post will be brought to you in bullet form:

• Still suffering from "Bloggers Block". Keep feeling that I have nothing deep or meaningful to post, or that my posts are too short or whatever and so every time I sit down to blog something......I don't....hence the bullet list today :)

• Lent is looming. This, oddly enough, is a very busy time of year for us church folks. Which I always find an interesting paradox since we are supposed to give stuff up for Lent and I always end up taking on more...hhmmm...

• Spirituality and Practice has an e-course for Lent - "The Cry of the Prophet - Practicing Spirituality with Joan Chittister" - looking forward to that starting up this week and being the focus of my devotions during this time.

• If Lent is not your thing, the next few weeks can be a good time for thinking about what is going on in your life, creatively or otherwise. What are you saying "Yes" to and what are you saying "No" to? What is brewing within you? What do you long to express? Are there things you need to let go of? What wants to burst forth and rise up from you :)

• Looking forward to a chat this week with Trish Bruxvoort-Colligan from Spirations Institute. I'm being pulled more and more towards spiritual direction, especially as I find myself facilitating at retreats more often so I'm trying to find a program that will help me grow in that direction. This one looks promising, and I have my fingers crossed!

• Artella has a great deal on their new Mixed-Media Self-Portraits course - you can get the details at my creativity coaching blog here

• The College Boy is home for a week!!

And that's it - now I think I should go and play with some watercolors and try and get another assignment done! * o

Bits and Pieces of Things

For My Love

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

- e. e. cummings ~

(Complete Poems, 1904-1962)

* o

For My Love

How Not To...

...smash open a Terry's Chocolate Orange....


Boys - sometimes they just don't completely think through the process! * o

How Not To...

What I love most...

...about being off this week:

• sleeping in
• yoga and prayer in the mornings
• reading, and getting totally absorbed in good novels
• feeling the creative energy starting to resurface
• spending time with John and the boys
• not having to go out in the crappy cold if I don't want to
• catching up on emails
• resting in the transition

..so not wanting to go back to work yet....(sigh)... * o

What I love most...

Cats Rule, and Dogs Drool

As the dog barely manages to get a corner of rug, we know who rules the roost in this household :) * o

Cats Rule, and Dogs Drool

A Different Migration

MIGRATION
(By Harriet Brown)

All fall you watched the geese fly south,
a soundless movie through the bedroom glass,
their long plain marvelous wings beating,
warm-blooded, creaturely, willing themselves
into their own features. Days after you stopped
speaking, you eyes stayed on that gray sky.
When there was nothing left to hope for,
still the last light in you lifted as they passed.

And now, of course, the geese
are coming back, flying in slow twos
and threes, in sure unbroken lines across
the spring bleached sky as if they know
for certain something that we don't.
I wonder if, wherever you are, you know it too.

The seasons are marked by the honking of geese in the sky. They are marked by other things too. A packed vehicle, an empty room, a quieter house. They return, but each return is different - and every leaving another step on the journey. * o

A Different Migration

Oh, those summer nights

We've been enjoying some fairly nice weather this August, the best night being last weekend. The temps were warm, the skies clear and the moon full. The perfect summer night. Made even better by the addition of a dozen or so of some of the the most awesome teens/young adults I know who hung out around our fire for a bit.

Oh summer nights......soon to be fall. I'm keenly aware of the passing of time and summer coming to a close. One more week and College Boy will be heading back to school. The days even now are starting to get shorter.

If I had seen the meteor shower a couple of weeks ago, I would have wished on the shooting stars for a longer summer. It seemed so long in coming and so quickly flown by. But nature knows these things are not to be. The seasons must change, the wheel must turn.

Do I sound a bit blue? Ya, I always hate the end of summer. * o

Oh, those summer nights

And the Universe laughs...

So, remember yesterday's post? The "something wonderful will happen today"? Remember how I said that I knew that even with the wonderfuls would come the awfuls? You know, life is full of goods and bads?

And so the Universe laughed and tonight - my dog just got nailed by a skunk. Right outside the open livingroom window. Yes folks, we are smothered in Eau de Pepe LePew right now. And said dog, a lab, is ironically afraid of water. Bathing him to get rid of the smell was a job and a half for College Boy. The dog will be sleeping in the porch tonight.

I think I still hear the Universe chuckling......something wonderful this way smells.... :) * o

And the Universe laughs...

Happy Anniversary!

23 years.....two kids...a cat and dog...a home...numerous ups and downs...friends and family that have come and gone...we're still here - here's to the best part of my life! * o

Happy Anniversary!

I spent my birthday....

yesterday at this gorgeous place, with my "bestest" friend. We were attending a watercolor workshop, taught by Biljana Baker a local artist. It was a gorgeous day as you can tell by the photos and so much fun. Learned lots I didn't know about how to use watercolors, some brush techniques, and using masking fluid to create a resist. Biljana is an amazing artist with a wonderful warm personality - you could tell she was enjoying herself. I really love when someone who is teaching you is also passionate about what they are doing. That enthusiasm just overflows to the students! Add a gorgeous location with tons of atmosphere, and overall it was a pretty good day. Later that night we relaxed around the fire pit at my place with friends and family. Everyone surprised me this year with artsy presents - brushes, markers, stamps, a mosaic stepping stone kit, a heron sculpture.....I was totally spoiled. High School Boy, home for the weekend, made the birthday cake which was yummy! And there was plenty of sunshine, something so desperately needed around here.

(photos - Quebec Lodge where the workshop was held, the awesome view from the lodge, Lynn and me) * o

I spent my birthday....

'Shor is quiet round these parts.....

Dropped High School Boy off at camp yesterday, where he will be volunteering for the next couple of a weeks. Doesn't seem like all that long ago when we dropped him off for his first time at camp. His first ever week away from home. We worried that he wouldn't like it, or would be homesick. Instead he took to it like a duck to water and has been going every summer since with the exception of one. He strolls confidently across the field this boy-man - he shaves now, has a girlfriend, and a social network that spans 100 Km. Always off to new adventures. I'm glad that both my sons have way more confidence than I did at their age. I'm glad they are tackling the world with gusto, and I am an immensely proud mom of the two fine young men they are turning out to be. * o

'Shor is quiet round these parts.....

This...in my email this morning...

Today's poem offering from the Panhala list speaks volumes to me right now:

In the Middle

of a life that's as complicated as everyone else's,
struggling for balance, juggling time.
The mantle clock that was my grandfather's
has stopped at 9:20; we haven't had time
to get it repaired. The brass pendulum is still,
the chimes don't ring. One day you look out the window,
green summer, the next, and the leaves have already fallen,
and a grey sky lowers the horizon. Our children almost grown,
our parents gone, it happened so fast. Each day, we must learn
again how to love, between morning's quick coffee
and evening's slow return. Steam from a pot of soup rises,
mixing with the yeasty smell of baking bread. Our bodies
twine, and the big black dog pushes his great head between;
his tail is a metronome, 3/4 time. We'll never get there,
Time is always ahead of us, running down the beach, urging
us on faster, faster, but sometimes we take off our watches,
sometimes we lie in the hammock, caught between the mesh
of rope and the net of stars, suspended, tangled up
in love, running out of time.

~ Barbara Crooker ~
(Yarrow)

photo: bumblebee - beside the deck this morning

* o

This...in my email this morning...

Life in a Northern Town

One of the things I enjoy about living in a Very Small Town, is we can do things you can't in a big city. Like last night, which just happened to be one of the nicest evenings we've had yet this spring (finally!). We lit our first fire of the season in our outdoor pit, and sat around with CollegeBoy who is home for the summer, and just generally enjoyed the warm sunshine, the evening birds singing and the conversation. High School Boy even graced us with his presence for a little bit. Then, as the evening light turned dusky and the coals were just right, we roasted wienies for a late snack and went inside to enjoy a movie. Life doesn't get much better than that. * o

Life in a Northern Town