Home Free – “God Bless the U.S.A.” (featuring Lee Greenwood and the United States Air Force Band)
This fills my heart to bursting. Home Free is an acapella group, so there are NO instruments in this. Absolutely stunning.
ReMax Arkansas
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This is Memorial Park in the center of the square in Greenwood, Arkansas. There are bronze rectangles commemorating veterans on both sides of the sidewalks through the park. There is a bronze statue commemorating each of the 4 services: Marines, Army, Navy, and Air Force. On each day like this, the small flags decorate each of the rectangles.
Freepik
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A day to honor the sacrifice of brave men and women and their families, the ones who are gone and those who are serving now, working in very difficult conditions to keep us free.
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” ~Rajneesh
Love Nature – YouTube
“Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that suppose to mean? In my heart it don’t mean a thing.” ~Toni Morrison
Mix 93.1
“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” ~Linda Wooten
My Baba
“A mom reads you like a book, and wherever she goes, people read you like a glowing book review.” ~Robert Brault
National Geographic
“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” ~ Milton Berle
National Geographic
“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” ~ Sophia Loren
Being a mom is one of the toughest, most rewarding roles there is.
This drawing hangs on the wall in my computer area in my office. It was drawn as a present for Mother’s Day to my mom from one of our dearest friends, Hal Thomson. We used to have what we called, “The Thomson Wall” in my parents’ home, filled with wonderful drawings for all occasions from him. I was too young to fully appreciate him and his wife, MaryEllen, as ‘artists.’ They made their living as commercial artists, but he loved to draw and she did bronzes. I remember a rabbit she created. I simply loved them for the people they were.
I may, or may not, hear from our son today. My guys don’t make a big thing of commercial ‘holidays,’ birthdays, or other days when people are EXPECTED to do something nice. They are both of the opinion that it’s what they do EVERY day that counts. My husband sent me flowers at work too many times to count ‘just because,’ making my co-workers envious. Our son will stay up very late across the world from us to talk via our conference call program where we can see and hear each other, talking and laughing real time. They both make me feel special when I least expect it. :0)
I’m feeling a bit hostile about being older than dirt this morning. I was fine until I started trying to find a May Day image and had to scroll nearly to the bottom of the page until I found an actual “May pole,” or any mention of it – and this was from the Encyclopedia Britannica!
Another small thorn was as I was trying to spell “encyclopedia” I remembered Jiminy Cricket from the Mickey Mouse Club singing it – and STILL need to sing it in order to spell the word correctly – “E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-E-D-I-A!”
AND – I always wanted a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica or The World Book when I was a child. I was a pain in the rear about it to my parents, having no concept of how much money I was asking them to spend. I never got either, of course, and by the time I might even CONSIDER buying it for my family, the Internet had been born and most people had switched to using IT, rather than any other source, and had given up phone books, maps, and other things, as well.
It doesn’t MATTER that I never participated or saw anyone dancing around a May pole. I guess that I just never thought about the whole idea “going out of style – or even mention” I think the idea is a pretty one, so I’ll just think about it today, quietly, trying to get my nose back in joint.
Our son has lived in Thailand for several years now. He simply loves the whole atmosphere, the people, and the lifestyle. The annual water festival to celebrate the Thai new year really surprised him and his friends the first year they were there.
They didn’t know anything about it and went out on the street to get some supplies. All of a sudden, they were drenched! On purpose! With people laughing and cheering. This continued the whole time they were out. They finally found out enough to know what was happening, and got into the spirit as much as they could.
Our son essentially said, “Once is Enough.” He looks out the window of his condo down at the street several times during the 3-day celebration, but basically keeps a very low profile, ordering food in, foregoing the trips to the gym, and waiting for the celebration to wind down.
I didn’t SEE any going on, but I HOPE there were lots of children hunting for Easter eggs this weekend. A memory I have was the Easter baskets my parents would get for my brother and me. I loved everything about them – the cheap, cheesy basket, the fake ‘grass’, the chocolate bunny, a couple of Easter eggs, maybe a candy or two. Just wonderful. When my husband and I were out getting groceries recently, I found my eye wandering to a display of Easter baskets at the store. I KNOW. I’m WAY too old for Easter baskets, but I still love ’em. :0)
We decorated Easter eggs a couple of times that I remember. We didn’t do anything fancy – just drew some designs or wrote words in wax crayons that would show up white against the rest of the dyed eggs. I looked up Easter eggs a minute ago and found that some people have brought decorating Easter eggs to an art form. I found, though, for MY tastes, the old, simpler, kid-centered decorations were much more satisfying. I did find some cute ideas, though –
It’s still a bit cool right now (44 degrees F.) to work outside comfortably, but it’s supposed to warm up this afternoon. I’m planning to prep my two brick tomato planters and then maybe head to town to get plants so I can enjoy much of my weekend playing in the dirt.
I’m enjoying the fact that we don’t have any errands we NEED to do, no appointments, no chores we HAVE to do, no bad weather, no schedule. Ahhhhh. We can do what we like WHEN we like. Sheer luxury.
When I was a child a hundred years or so ago, I always looked forward to Easter weekend. Sometimes we went to an Easter egg hunt. One time our neighborhood had one.
Easter was one of the times of the year I got new clothes – something special to wear to the church service. One year I got my favorite sweater EVER – a light-as-air pullover fuzzy pink one that made me feel pretty. My mom got me a tweedy wool skirt to go with it. I still remember how special I felt when I got black patent leather shoes with straps then went over the top. They were so shiny I could see my face in them. :0)
Sometimes we got chocolate rabbits. I always ate an ear off first. A few times we dyed eggs as a family. We had some wax white crayons we used to draw designs or write words on the eggs before we dyed them.
Some Easters, before people really thought things through, baby rabbits and baby chicks were sold at stores, usually dyed pretty pastel colors.
My parents had had actual rabbits as pets (we had two – one named “Peter” and the other “Welsh” – for Welsh Rarebit.) They didn’t like the idea of getting a dyed one, but one year all my friends and I got dyed chicks. No one thought about whether it was a good idea or not, or thought about the actual chicks, who, if they made it through, might not make wonderful pets.
Luckily, we had one mother in the neighborhood who was my idea of the PERFECT mother. (She was always welcoming to her kids’ friends, baked chocolate chip cookies, let us run a ‘camp’ one year, etc. – who adopted the chicks as they grew up, lost the dye, and became actual chickens as the newness wore off and more active care was needed.
Our church service was beautiful – filled to the brim with spirit-lifting music. Children would walk down the center aisle to sit at the front if they wanted to, carrying small baskets of fruit. We had a really good organist while we lifted our voices in song. My heart would nearly burst with the beauty of it all and the joy spilling out of me.
“Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after. Poems and songs with pipes and drums A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.” ~Author Unknown
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! With the latest storms, we’ve had a return of winter-like temperatures – without the ice or snow – thank goodness. It’s 33 degrees F. here right now. I think it’s supposed to get to 50 this afternoon.
I just checked the 10-day weather forecast and it looks like I can get some spring plants in my garden next week! I’ll plan to take the weed barrier cloths off the raised bed planters and store those and the bricks somewhere safe and then see what’s available. I can’t wait!!
DIY Value Picture
We have Lunch Bunch today. I have no idea who will be there, since my friends aren’t using their phones reliably these days and don’t remember to call if they’re not coming. Happily, my husband isn’t bothered if we’re ‘stood up’ by the group. We’ll just go get our lunch at the regular Lunch Bunch time and hope we see at least some of them.
It’s not raining. It’s SUNNY. It’s above freezing. HOORAAAAAY!
Enjoy your day.
“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.” ~Adrienne Cook
‘When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore.. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.’
Rebecca- age 8
'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4
'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5
'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6
'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4
'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7
'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.
They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8
'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents
And listen.'
Bobby - age 7
'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate, '
Nikka - age 6
'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day..'
Noelle - age 7
'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6
'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8
'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6
'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5
'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford .'
Chris - age 7
'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4
'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4
'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.'
Karen - age 7
'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8
And the final one
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there..
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'
Your Happy New Year depends on what you do for others. Anon
I will give up chocolates totally. 100%. Completely. Honestly….
Years come n go, but this year I specially wish 4 u a double dose of health n happiness topped with loads of good fortune. Have a gr8 year ahead! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Hope you’ll have a New Year that starts right and ends Happy!
My wishes for you, Great start for Jan, Love for Feb, Peace for March, No worries for April, Fun for May, Joy for June to Nov, Happiness for Dec, Have a lucky and wonderful 2023.
A Relaxed Mind, A Peaceful Soul, A Joyful Spirit, A Healthy Body & Heart full of Love..All these are my Prayers for You..Wish a Happy New Year 2023
“Favorite Toy” Shane Dimmick – PumpernickelPress.com for Evergreen
This is a favorite Christmas card I received this year. I absolutely love it. The painting by Shane Dimmick is gorgeous. I wish I could hand you this card right now so you can see and FEEL how special it is. The whole front is “3-D” or “embossed.” The dog stands out from the background. His face stands out even farther. The nose is out more. The stuffed animal snowman stands out from that. You can FEEL his fur. And then the background, mostly white on white, with the dog in really faint beige and the snow man’s arms, hat, and scarf have faint color. The trees and snowflakes, snowman, hills of snow, and dog are all standing out from the background, too. I just can’t say enough, except that I’ll keep the card and put it up on the cork board that hangs on the wall behind my monitors so I can see it all the time.
The artist is Shane Dimmick. I’ll do another post about her and her work other than the Christmas cards. The card company is PumpernickelPress Here are some more of Shane’s Christmas cards –
I haven’t had a chance to check out all the other artists whose work is included in Pumpernickel Press’s offerings, but I’ve bookmarked the site for later. You might be interested in checking it out, too.
“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” ~ Bill Vaughan
“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.” ~ John Burroughs
“Resolve to make at least one person happy every day” ~ Sydney Smith
“My wishes for you, Great start for Jan, Love for Feb, Peace for March, No worries for April, Fun for May, Joy for June to Nov, Happiness for Dec, Have a lucky and wonderful 2023.” ~ Anonymous
“May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.
May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills.
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!
May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires.
May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.
May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words …….
May 2023 be the best year of your life!!!”
Source Unknown
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“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.” ~ Neil Gaiman, British author
“Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don’t quite know how to put our love into words.” – Harlan Miller
“Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.” – Mary Ellen Chase
“Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” ~Janice Maeditere
“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.” ~Larry Wilde
“I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.” ~Harlan Miller
“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” ~Andy Rooney
I just had the BEST Christmas present – I got to talk to our son via the conference call program. We had a wonderful talk. I got to see him smile and laugh. I’m feeling HUGGED right now. :0)
I hope you’re having a nice Christmas at your house. It’s 20 degrees here, but it’s supposed to get to 38 this afternoon! Woo HOOO! Since my husband is taking a nap, I’m trying to be a responsible adult and get things a bit more organized in the office. I am behind on my online bookkeeping – with November’s information sitting beside me in a folder. I’ll try to get that taken care of today. I’m also officially changing calendars today.
2022
As you can see, I’m very messy. This, though, and my kitchen calendar, together, keep me straight on our obligations, accomplishments, etc. Each year I tell myself that I’ll actually USE the lines on the calendar, trying to be neater, and then I degenerate into my normal messy state…
2023
solagohome.com
We are eating normally today, even though it’s Christmas. With all the kind people who love us and don’t care about our lack of willpower, we have devoured pumpkin bread, Mt. Dew Cake with Pineapple, and a box of chocolates, among other things. We are full as ticks and are both ready to TRY to tone it down some.
Minions
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This is DAY 163 of daily yoga. Yesterday I held the plank pose three times at a count of 30 each. I hope that 2023 brings me more flexibility, more strength, more balance, less pain and stiffness, and less of me. :0)
The U.S. Sun
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Enjoy today with warmth, love, and lots and lots of hugs!
I hope that you have been good this year and can hope that Santa fills your stocking tonight with goodies that will delight you all year long.
Gift giving is over for us now, having given the presents I made and other gifts to family and friends. My husband and I get each other things all year ’round, whenever we find them, so have agreed not to exchange gifts at Christmas. Our son is across the world in Thailand, so it’s just the two of us this year. We’ll probably talk with him via the conference call program he has set up for us tonight or tomorrow. Happily, we’ve come through the unseasonably cold weather for Arkansas just fine. We’re still dripping water in two sinks, but I think we’re though the worst of it now. It’s 16 degrees now and a high of 29 is expected this afternoon. Break out the swim suits!
Last night we got an email that UPS had delivered the part for which my husband had been waiting to hopefully fix the air compressor in the shop. When I looked at the proof of delivery, it said, ‘left on the front porch.’ I looked, but no package was there. My husband drove down the driveway to look for the package and also check for mail. There was a plastic bag with a package in it tied to the arm of our robot. (Apparently, our ‘front door’ has moved from our house to the bottom of our driveway.)
He went out to the shop early this morning to turn the heat on in the shop. He went out awhile ago to start working on the air compressor. He came right back, saying, “I think it needs more time.” I encouraged him to wait until after lunch and reminded him that we aren’t under the gun for any reason on this and that he can take his time. We’ll see.
My good friend Kay called to see if we had ‘been blowed off our hill’ last night. We assured each other that we have gotten through this uncivilized weather with no problems thus far and hoped we were past the worst of it. She and her husband, Bud, suffered badly previously, having a pipe burst, flooding their kitchen and dining area. They had to have all that replaced and it cost a fortune, as well as being traumatic. This time we’re both lucky. :0)
Amber
Abby
Our animals have been very grateful for a warm, dry house and plenty of food and water, too. Our cat usually prefers to sleep in the garage, but she hasn’t balked that we kept her inside the past two nights. She took over one of Amber’s beds, turning over on her back, spreading out as much as possible, and daring Amber to come near. Amber wisely chose to sleep on one of her other beds.
I hope Christmas Eve finds you healthy and happy, surrounded by as many of those you love as possible.
It was -4 with a wind chill of -26 here when I woke up, according to thermometers and my computer. I’m sending a note of diplomatic protest to Mother Nature, as this is totally ‘uncivilized’ for Arkansas. Thankfully, no pipes burst overnight. Our garage door is frozen shut, however. I discovered that when I tried to let the dog out. I made sure it wasn’t still trying to open – burning out the motor – shut off the light and let the dog out the people door at the front of the house instead. We kept our cat in overnight, thinking that she would probably wake us up in the middle of the night meowing to get out. She didn’t! It is now a balmy 3 degrees F. with a wind chill of -14. It’s supposed to finally get above freezing Monday afternoon. I’m trying not to even think about our water bill, since we’re having to drip water in two sinks in order to try to keep our pipes from freezing. I hope that you are safe, dry, and well this bitterly cold morning on this ‘night-before’ the ‘night-before-Christmas.’
We’ll have a comfort food dinner of chicken, onions and mushrooms in cream of chicken and mushroom soup over rice tonight.
I’ve been a reasonably ‘good girl’ this year – well, mostly. Sometimes.
I know your priority is to try to fill the requests in the letters of all the good little girls and boys who are anxiously waiting for your visit Christmas Eve, and that’s as it should be.
If you find you have a bit of time and energy left, though, I would very much appreciate your consideration in fulfilling these requests –
Please help those I love to be healthy in the coming year. As you know, things have been stressful for them and they need a bit of extra help to be able to do all the things they would like to do.
Please do what you can to help those who are suffering. Maybe just seeing you fly over an extra time or two would give them hope and strength.
Please encourage us to tone down the rhetoric and remember that we are all in this world together. We need to listen more and talk less.
I really don’t need presents. I have everything I need, except maybe an extra hug or two. I realize I’m asking a lot, but we need help, especially now.
I really enjoyed yesterday. I reached out to two long-time friends, asking if I could come over for a bit. Nora got right back to me, saying, “YES!” so I jumped into the truck.
Our schedules just don’t mesh, so we hadn’t seen each other in a LONG time. It doesn’t diminish the love in any way – life is just more complicated these days. (She works full time and I’m with my husband full time.)
I was surprised to learn that she is now working from home full time. I don’t know the logistics of it, but I’m delighted that she doesn’t have to spend all that money for gas, or worry about getting to and from Ft. Smith if the roads are bad. She is also having a roof for her patio constructed so that she can enjoy having outside in the mornings. This is a real quality of life issue for her. She’s tried various other more temporary roofs, but with our gusty Arkansas winds, they have blown down or completely blown away. Now she’ll have something that will last. :0) She apparently liked the tote bag I painted for her and complimented the card I painted. Since she is a pastel artist, I’m really happy that she is pleased with my efforts.
We ate lunch and then I heard from another friend, Carla. She said she was out and about, and wanted to come to our place around 4pm. I went scurrying around, making sure she had a comfortable place to sit, a clear place to put down a drink, the bathroom was clean, etc. (That’s what I get for being a slob.)
She brought what is called a “Kaleidoscope Rose.” Isn’t it stunning? I’ve never seen one before. I THINK that this is done very carefully with dyes on each petal to create this. However it happens. I think it’s gorgeous. She also brought chocolates that I am trying my best to stay away from. :0)
She liked her personalized tote, too, laughing at one of the quotes about car racing. (She and her son have a stock car.)
So it was a beautiful day, catching up with two ladies who mean the world to me, getting hugs, bringing up my spirits. What a lucky lady I am!
One of my favorite things is Christmas lights. They get me into the spirit of the holidays like nothing else. I found some pics of towns in Arkansas that are celebrating in style that I’ll share with you over the coming days.
Part of the Christmas decorations on the square in Greenwood, Arkansas
I’m slow to get into the spirit this year, for some reason. This morning our son sent a picture to us of part of the decorations in Thailand –
Christmas in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Yesterday I started getting presents together for my friends. I’m mailing some and then giving others at various times, so I’ll get things together based on when and where they’re going. I’m also going to try to get started with Christmas cards. Maybe some Christmas music…
The Ft. Smith National Cemetery now honors over 16,000 veterans. Before Christmas, volunteers come to the Ft. Smith Convention Center to put red bows on wreaths to decorate the headstones as you see here.
I’ve done this twice with my good friend, Carla, whose husband is buried here.
There were lots and lots of tables set up in a huge room. Other volunteers came with long poles on which wreaths were hung. They would pile them on the tables for us. Then others would come by with piles and piles of bows ready to be tied onto the wreaths. As we worked, still more would come to take the finished wreaths to waiting trucks for transport to the cemetery.
Christmas music played in the background and volunteers sang along or talked to the others at the tables. It took several hours, as you might imagine, to get the bows on 16,000 wreaths, but the feeling of love and warmth in that room took my breath away. Carla and I laughed and talked, hugged from time to time, took some breaks, and met other really nice people.
There is a special time for people who have loved ones in the cemetery to put a wreath on those headstones in a more private setting. When that has been done, volunteers put a wreath on all the others until all are decorated. As you can see, the finished product of the efforts is impressive.
After the holidays, the wreaths are gathered by more volunteers. The bows are removed and stored in huge boxes and the wreaths stored on poles for next year. It’s a beautiful way to honor our vets for their service. A very special time for me to help Carla honor her husband.
My sister-in-law creates this gorgeous display each year – a beautiful way to show off her collection and get into the Christmas spirit at the same time. She sent me these pictures, and she said it was okay if I shared them with you.
This is a close-up picture showing me that she includes two figurines in her display that I have sent her at various times over the years. It makes me feel that I am with her, and that’s a really nice thing.
I’m trying to get into the spirit at my house, but I haven’t really caught the bug yet. I think the first thing I’ll do to start feeling the season is get two packages ready to send to two special people for the holidays. I’ll also prep to send Christmas cards.
Having a happy day already. I’ve chatted with several friends and relatives this morning, reaching out to share our love and wishes for a happy celebration today. I’m feeling very lucky to be in a warm, dry house, husband sleeping in his chair in the living room, getting ready to start cooking, and feeling surrounded by love. Absolutely priceless. :0)
creativeartworksblog 