School is Out for Summer!

It's official! School is out for summer! Can you tell from the smiles on these faces? My son had friends (my other sons) over for a cookout and sleepover on Saturday. I love these kids:)

We're sophomores!!! Can't you tell how much more mature we are now??

Light Into the World

"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."
John 12:46

Searching for Soul

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. ~Epictetus

If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that. ~Goethe

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. ~ Henry David Thoreau "Walden"

Before the beginning of great brilliance and beauty there first must be a period of complete chaos. ~I-Ching

If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. ~Lyall Watson

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. ~Henry David Thoreau

Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.
~Frederic Chopin

Gourds

Today I planted gourd seeds (large bottleneck) and watered them in good. Seedlings should emerge in 7-10 days! and by the beginning of September, should have a good harvest if all goes well!

Woohoo!! Let the planting begin!

Spring has Sprung!

What a wonderful Spring it has been so far! I've been quite busy doing some of my favorite things:

-Canning:  Canned about a dozen pints each of chowchow, pickled peppers, and a few cans of homemade salsa. Tonight I'm working on strawberry jam:

Strawberries patiently awaiting to jam

-Got the garden going:

I am patiently awaiting the straw bales to "cook" 

-Had a wonderful lunch with my mother and other family on Mother's Day:

DaDa and Kelley

My fruit salad turned out yummy AND pretty!!

-Made a few pieces of jewelry:

-My sister treated me to a trip to Savannah (just the girls - me, Sister, and Mother):

(What happened in Savannah.... stays in Savannah!!)

-Last, and best of all!!!, attended the babies' first birthday party in Savannah:

Turning one...

...sure is fun!

...for Mom, for Dad....

...for everyone!!! 

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog,

conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone,

comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations,

analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal,

fight efficiently and die gallantly.

Specialization is for insects."

-- Robert A. Heinlein

2011

Hello much neglected blogosphere! I am back, and I got a new laptop, so I am here to stay. Yes, I finally have my very own computer. It's mine, all mine; just mine. I think it is the only item in my home I can truly call my very own (other than clothes and personal items)! You know, something I don't have to share. I really don't know how to act and keep waiting for someone to take it away from me.... so far, nothing:)

~Noel~

Been away for a long time, haven't I? I have been busy crafting, crafting, crafting. This is what I made today... 'tis the Season!!!

Switched at Birth?

One Proud Mama.

That's me. A proud Mama. My 14-year old son never fails to amaze me. Last night was the 8th Grade Honors Program at his school and he finally received the long-awaited for All Star Award. This is an award given to students who maintain all A's or all A's and B's throughout the school year, have no absences or tardies, and no office referrals. Let me tell you the irony in his getting the award this year.

Every year from 1st through 7th grade, he has maintained all A's. No B's. Just all A's. And he has always received the President's Award for that achievement. But he has never gotten the All Star Award. (There has always been some illness or injury that has required missing a day or two from school.) So, in 8th grade, he earns his first B (two actually). And what does he receive? The coveted All Star Award. Imagine that. And he has now come to the conclusion that it is better to maintain A's and B's rather than all A's.

So during the awards ceremony, after he gets his President's Award, I kind of sit back, relax, start daydreaming about what's for dinner; just generally stop paying attention to the ceremony. And I'm half way paying attention to the teacher about to present the next award as she goes on about this wonderful kid and all of his wonderful attributes - his leadership skills, his dedication, blablabla.... - and then she ends with "...and I'm going to miss his smile." and I thought, hey, that could be John Allen. And guess what? It was!!! He was awarded the Fine Arts Award for Strings!!! And guess what else? The Strings teacher had wonderful things to say about him. But I don't exactly know what she said, as I missed it while daydreaming about dinner. But I didn't miss my son, walking across stage, beaming ear to ear with his adorable smile, receiving his Award. And there was one Mama in the audience with tears in her eyes.

Well, lo and behold, surprise again when at the end of the ceremony he received the All Star Award.

All I can say is I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments. He was so deserving of the awards he received.

I sometimes wonder if this child was switched at birth.

Relationships

Each relationshp you have with another person reflects the relationship you have with yourself. -Alice Deville

What's On the Beside Table

So, I've not posted anything in a while, but wanted to share what I've been reading. It is an older book by Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance (which I read years ago, and still periodically read passages from). The title is Excavating Your Authentic Self and it was published in 1998. Several times over the years I've browsed the book at the bookstore, but never bought it because it didn't apply to me. Didn't apply to my life. My authentic self was well and fine, thank you, and didn't need digging up. I mean, it wasn't buried. At least, I didn't think so.

When I picked this book up (from Goodwill) and started reading, I realized how wrong I had been. I completely fit the profile for an authentic self buried. And so. I think I'm going to need a big shovel.

Stay tuned.

This should be interesting.

the babies are here!!!

Look at these precious angels!! My great-nephew, Wallace, and my great-niece, Virginia, born on April 13, 2010, weighing in respectively at 5 lbs. 13 oz. and 5 lbs. 5 oz. Are these not the sweetest little ones you have ever seen????

think,think,think

People who don't think probably don't have brains; rather, they have grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake. ~Winnie the Pooh

Yup! Can relate to ole' Pooh Bear today as I dig my way through the grey fluff looking for something close to meaningful thought. So.... think, think, think, I was trying to think of something to wake my sleepy brain and remembered something profound I read (somewhere?). If you sit quietly and listen to your thoughts as they go by... just let them flow... don't judge them... don't get caught up in them... just listen and observe. Then realize that the real YOU is not the person thinking those thoughts... the real YOU, the soul of you, is the "thing" observing the person having the thoughts. I don't know; I tend to think it is just my brain multi-tasking. But performing this act reminds me much of trying to imagine the infiniteness of the universe; the frustration of not being able to clearly imagine infiniteness. I keep going back to "but what is outside the universe?" And my mind becomes boggled. And guess what? This brain exercise defeats the purpose. Because it is a dead end. And dead ends make me..... sleepy.

If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. ~Lyall Watson

my name is Kathijane and I am an addict....

Well, I certainly hate to paste this nasty, ugly photo of a burning cigarette into my pretty little blog, but here it is in all its filth (but without the stench). How ridiculous is this? I don't mind the nasty, ugly smoke going into my pretty little lungs, but don't want a picture of it on my blog? Yes, ridiculous! But then, no one has ever claimed addicts are totally rational people. Especially when it comes to their addictions. So, okay, as of now, I am an addict. But in 19 days I will be able to claim myself a "recovering addict." I'm preparing to quit the cigarette habit on May 1st. In doing so, I'm coming face to face with the reality that is "smoking". Facing those things which I've always known, but never wanted to hear. You know, like the fact that the stuff in cigarettes, well it is stuff that shouldn't be going into the human body: butane (think lighter fluid), cadmium (as in batteries), methane (that would be sewer gas), hexamine (barbeque lighter), ammonia (toilet cleaner), methanol (rocket fuel), among other nice things such as nicotine (and accompanying insecticides), arsenic, and carbon monoxide. I mean, I'm not an idiot, because I wouldn't drink lighter fluid, eat a battery, or stick my head in the sewer. But I am an idiot because.... well, smoking... I might as well be doing all those things and then some... downing some rocket fuel while washing my hair with the toilet cleaner. But, what can I say? other than.... I am an addict.

For now, I'm trying to focus on the positives of quitting:

After quitting:

20 minutes Blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature of hands and feet return to normal.

8 hours Nicotine level is now fallen to only 6.25% of normal peak during smoking.

12 hours Blood oxygen level returns to normal.

24 hours Anxieties peak but should normalize within 2 weeks - this is the most critical part, where success depends on this 2 weeks period.

48 hours Damaged nerve endings start to regrow while your smell and taste return to normal; anger and irritability peaks.

72 hours Breathing becomes easier and lungs functional abilities increase with 100% nicotine-free and almost 90% of its by products should have been passed down via urine; symptoms of chemical withdrawal syndrome like restlessness peak.

10 to 14 days Recovery is likely where addiction no longer in place; blood circulation to gum and teeth normalize.

2 weeks to 3 months The risk for heart attack starts to drop and lungs functional begins to improve.

3 weeks to 3 months Blood circulation improves substantially and any chronic cough would have disappear.

1 to 9 months No more fatigue and shortness of breath; cilia have regrow to help to keep your lungs clean and reducing risk of lung infection.

1 year Risk of coronary heart disease dropped to half of a smoker.

1 to 5 years Risk of stroke declined to half of a non-smoker.

10 years Risk of lung cancer declined by half of an average smoker

15 years Risk of coronary heart disease is now that of a person who never smoked.

brain pushups

From Wellsphere:

We all yawn when we're tired, but who knew that it was actually good for us? In fact, it is essential for maintaining optimal brain health, says neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, MD, director of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania.

Yawning triggers neural activity in parts of the brain that control its temperature and metabolism.

Newberg recommends yawning 10 times in a row per day. He claims that combining this ritual with a healthy lifestyle will help you relax more effectively than meditation, stay focused on important ideas and concepts, and generate more compassion and empathy for others.

So here it is almost the middle of April and I have yet to post anything to my blog this month. And the reason is.... because.... because.... I've been, yAwn, exercising my brain. Yup. Incessant yawning as I find myself in one of those sleepyhead-foggy-brained-can't-wake-up periods, sleep walking through life, and all the energy I can muster goes to getting through the day. Nothing excites me, nothing makes me wonder, and there are no creative musings on the world around me. As a matter of fact, I don't think I can wring one ounce of creativity from this old brain.

Which, ironically, does make me wonder... what is creativity all about? That is a subject that has always intrigued me. Why can one be so full of it one day, and the next, it is gone. Poof. Just gone. And no matter what you do, you can't get it back. So you go on about your life, sleepwalking, until just as quickly as it left, poof, it is back! An uncreative dry spell, that is where I am.

But according to Elizabeth Gilbert (you know her - Eat, Pray, Love), creativity or no, you gotta keep showing up. Whether your creativity shows up or not, YOU have to show up. Because one never knows at what moment creativity might sneak back into your life.

So... here I am.... just showing up.

YAwn.

today's Etsy find

I love this necklace by Lau from Hong Kong! Isn't it sweet? Visit her Etsy shop for this and other great jewelry pieces.

almost Easter.

They are hope.
Tiny feet, tiny hands, they are hope.
Naked littles, fuzzy, soft and gentle,
baby blue, baby pink, pink, pink.
To think of them, my heart sings and fills to burst,
tiny feet tiny hands naked babies.
Soft and gentle,
rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye.
where have you been tiny ones?

So, it is almost Easter and with it, Springtime! Doesn't that always bring about thoughts of Easter baskets filled with sweetly colored eggs, and little fuzzy spring chicks freshly born? Easter, truly the time of renewal and rebirth, will be especially significant for our family this year as we await the arrival of our own little spring "chicks". My nephew and niece are expecting their first born. And their second born! A boy. And a girl. And our family, well, we keep peering into that Easter basket waiting for the first cracks to appear in the eggs. Waiting. Patiently. Patiently. Patiently waiting. And as the clock tick-tocks away the minutes, the hours, the days until their birth, I am sucked backward in time to the birth of another Spring baby, one who brought this same excitement and joy to our family nest - the birth of the father of these babies-yet-born. My sister's son. My nephew; the first baby who stole my heart. And it is only now that I find the significance in something written about him years ago:

M. M is Easter. I don't know why. He was the first born child of us children. He is sacred. He is an honor. He is Easter chicks and eggs and all pastel colors in a basket. He is softness and honesty and all that is right with the world and yellow ducks and hope. He is hope. And chirping birds, and springtime around the corner. Freshness. Winter is over and thank the Lord! here comes springtime. M.

beware of falling coconuts

Have you ever wondered exactly when, at what age, you begin to feel "grown up?" I mean, I behave like an adult (most of the time), am responsible like an adult (most of the time), live an adult life, but I just don't feel it. That adultness. That knowing, authoritative grace that comes with wisdom, or age, or whatever it is that makes you a real adult. And, oh my gosh!, when I give one of my children direction, or advice, (or a good scolding), I am so glad they don't know what a fake I am. That they don't know I'm not a grown up at all; they are really only talking to just another child person!

So, I've been trying to figure out exactly how you know when you are really an adult, and here is my conclusion:

To begin with, I've always been a little slow. I don't mean physically slow, I mean, slow as in it takes me getting hit in the head with a coconut 39 times before I realize I'm standing under a coconut tree. And realizing that if I will only move over an inch or two, I won't keep getting knots on the head. This doesn't happen because I'm totally ignorant, it's just that between bonks on the head I get so busy with important things, I forget to think about the falling coconuts. But finally, when that 39th coconut drops and my head has become sore enough, it comes to the forefront of my thought that, oh yeah, I need to move from under this tree. So, I move over and all is well. I can now get back to my important things. And I think.... I think.... that you know you are an adult when you don't have to get hit on the head 39 times to know it's time for action. You know after the first coconut, or maybe the second - depending on just how adult you are. And - here is the important part - you realize that those important things you are so busy doing under the coconut tree - well, the coconuts - they are just as important. They are those nagging problems and bad habits that interfere in our living fully; those things we mean to tend to, but don't. The weeds in our garden of life, I suppose. But it is through working out the kinks in our life - pulling the weeds - that we give ourselves room to expand. That we become more than who we were yesterday. That we eventually grow into our true selves. And we become..... a real adult.

in the vineyard

This bracelet, "In the Vineyard", is my latest jewelry creation! I have to declare it one of the prettiest things I have ever made in my entire life!! What do you think?

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.~ Joseph Campbell