Homegrown Hospitality

Oh Boy...

 

for the love of pete...broken...right above the growth plate...

Last day of March...

It it time for a little world wide kindness dont ya say???

   

5 down...4 to go...

The title sounds like something from a football play, but actually what it means is today is the 5th Monday with my group of "Homegrown & Homemade...Not Quite an E-zine, Sorta like an On-line Class" with 4 more Mondays to go....

Each Monday, mygroup receives a newsletter with some of my ramblings, a little of this and that and a new project. Overall, I think that everyone has had a good time, learned something fun & new....and therefore, I just announced to them..and now to you, that the next "Not Quite an E-zine, Sorta like an On-line Class" will be released sometime in May....The theme and what I will be teaching is Doodling 101.  If you would like to be sent an email regarding all of te info and when the class opens, please send an email to homegrownhospitality@cox.net and note  "Doodle 101" in the subject line...

Now, if you follow me on Face-book ( I still have not figured it all out) then you might have read my status update from late Friday night/early Saturday morning about being in the ER while the Man-Bash for   Valentine's 40th B-day was going on..

yep..we have another injury...

this year, only 4 months into it, our house has been to the Urgent Care/ER too many times!  More than ever in our life (knock on wood!)  filled with a demolition derby of boy injuries..although with this one, we don't the extent of the damage yet...

here is where we stand: left hand between thumb and pointer...so swollen with egg size "he-mah-toe-mah"  Dr's had a hard time getting a good reading on the xrays & Dr. is concerned about the growth plate and that the thumb and pointer wont come together to form an "okay" sign.....so....we must go to a specialist today...after the school Jog-a-thon...although this one should not be running...

It is just never a dull moment being a mom and with just the second game into the flag football season on Saturday,   Ben put on his uniform and stood strong yet a little bummedon the sidelines....This part hurts my heart..to see my kid disappointed, but I know and he is beginning to learn that it is not forever and this is part of being a boy...and being a mom....I had a good weepy cry with my mom and I feel better, kinda.  I know you all know what I am talking about...sometimes, it is just exhausting and the littlest thing is the "straw" that breaks the camels back (?)   As I was driving home from the ER at 12:30 I was just crying for no real good reason, just that I was drained...plus, duh...12:30...shoot, that is WAY PAST MY BEDTIME..and then to pull up to a Garage-mah-hall full of 40+ (okay some of our neighbors are 25+, whatever)....

The Men had a good time...I went straight to bed!

so, all is calm...sorta...for now....

All these "Everyday Life" situations, events....make for some good scrapbooks pages I suppose...."Scrapbook Pages"....that term sounds familiar, but I have not done any in awhile...I think this is probably the last one I did, in February using Prima products, demin & glossy accents......

I cut the flowers out of the Prima Patterned paper and made embellishments out of them with Glossy Accents and foam pop dots.  The letters "Laugh" are from Making Memories and I also added Glossy accents to those as well...

alright my friends...I must go now...get ready for the day and march on.....I hope you have a super day!

This Little Life o' Mine....

It has only been a few weeks of refueling and refilling and although the windshield of life is looking "okay" & the squeegee water seems to be clean and sudsy, I am still in neutral and coincidentally...I ran into ANOTHER SWARM OF BEES while driving down Pacific Coast Highway...ahhh-mazing!!!

one of those "had to be there" moments, but it made for a really great laugh!!!! 

If it seems like I am talking in code..I am.

There is still A LOT going on in this little ol' life of mine physically, mentally, spirtually & creativley and I am actively trying to refocus, refuel, refill, remember...

reminds me of this self-portrait (if you listen very closely you will hear circus music) 

I promise to get on creative track soon.....because I have a NEW TITLE.....with a few more to come in the coming weeks.....am I holding back something??????????????????????

yep.

Sometimes the phrase "No Comment" is the best comment....

for now, I will leave you with this....me, sitting on the ground...in a skirt....learning a super new skill...

Did you know.....

from the mouths of babes.....

Ben: "Mom, did you know that the "e-com-bull-bee" is bad and "Oh-bamba" is going to fix it....???"

Mom: "oh good, whew...thank's for the 411 Ben!"

This is something I want to remember.......it puts things in focus.....

This makes my heart full...

I am so sorry if I offended anyone by calling us "Losers" yesterday...That was not my intention what-so-ever.  Maybe it would have been better to say that we are are "Spiritually Lost" at one time or the other....and right smack dab in the middle of my "Lack of Lustre", this morning, as was spending a few EARLY morning moments going through my blogs, I came across this...

http://jenniferpriest.blogspot.com/2009/03/things-ive-learned-from-my-friends.html

This filled my heart & and makes me feel like I am working my purpose....

What fills your heart? Inquiring minds need to know.

Yes...we are all Losers

I admit...

I have fallen victim to Face-book although I don't know how to maneuver around it too well and  am unsure of who sees what, when and where, but darn it if I don't give it effort and time...too much time. 

I suppose I could be more frustrated with Face-book.  Apparently there have been changes and you know what happens when there are changes in life....luckily, I was never used to the "old Face-book home page" so I do not get "lost" with the "new home page."  Again though, I do get frustrated at myself at the amount of time I put into pretending that I know what I am doing. 

Coincidentally, this whole Face-book Frustration thing is very similar to my spiritual life and actually, the more I reflect on things, there more I can relate it to many situations in life...if you put enough time and energy into anything, you will learn, connect and who knows...maybe develop a new relationship.

If you don't put effort and time into something...it wilts, it lacks substance, it appears dull.......

For me lately, I will be the first to admit that I have been struggling in a few "Life Department's."   It is normal ( I hope) to go in cycles and thank goodness for the wacky, crazy and super cute Pastor Doug for turning on the light with his new book and new series "Refuel" at church.  If you want to get a look at what it is all about...you can go here and check it out..

so the big question and chapter one is all about being a Spiritual Loser...

 

Now "Loser" is a pretty harsh word and I don't really look at myself as a "loser" but what I will say is that I am "Lacking in Spiritual Lustre" even though my Faith remains strong.   Again, I am assuming (or at least hoping) that it is all normal and I feel okay with admitting it only because I am attending to it....

How about you?

I will admit that I have Face-book Fatigue, the Blog Blah's, Creative Cramps and have to constantly & consistently practice Everyday Life Exercises...my Spiritual, Mental, Physical and Creative life are all lacking in Lustre & feels like they are in "neutral" right now...probably kinda like a caterpillar in the cocoon not quite ready to break free....

are you following me???

BIG PICTURE SCENARIO.... I am blessed and thankful for a God that is right here for me, beside me, in front of me, carrying me and leading me......a Church where I can be comforted, reminded and uplifted, a small group that I can confide in, family & friends that accept me regardless of the bumps in the road and a blog where I feel comfortable to share and remind you that it is okay (& good and healing) to open up, connect and share...because regardless of how good things can look, how bad things can get, how dysfunctional situations can be, or how spiritual lost we may feel...we have a GOD to protect us and family & friends to comfort us...we are all losers...in a good way..because we are working on growing..together!

clean it..repair it..replace it....

I am still at the "filling station" and I am in the midst of cleaning my "windshield" but just hate it when the water is dirty??? the windshield may become a little clean and a bit more clear, but really it makes it very hard to see through...

sounds similar to life, huh? 

This is a very quirky (I would use "dorky" but I use that a lot) admission, but me being very "Simply Complicated" is very happy when there is clean water and squeegee's at the gas station....It makes me happy, makes the windshield very clean & easy to see through, which helps greatly especially when you are driving the road of life.....

Think about when you go to church and you hear a really good message.  You leave refueled and ready to hit the world running...and then, as you are minding your own business..going about your day...driving through life when

a rock hits your windshield or..

you hit a swarm of yellow bees or butterflies on the toll road (which scares the crud out of you and makes a really gross mess) so you turn on the water and wipers to at least TRY to clean it a bit  & all it does is shutter across the windshield dragging it across making it even worse....

sounds similar to life, huh???

Regardless of our windshield, the good news is it can be cleaned, repaired...and if it is anything like mine..it can be replaced.

are you picking up what I am putting down??

Today starts a new series at church by Pastor Doug called "Refuel" and it is just in the nick of my refueling time!!! I am ready and willing to get out of the "refilling" station on onto the great big road of life....Regardless of your faith..I hope you are ready for a road trip with me....

 

Falling together...

a wonderful thing happend in the wee hours of this morning...I was reminded that I/We can't fall apart...I/We must fall together~

Filling Station

 

 

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