happy birthday to me.

I've been working on some sewing, but I can't show the results...yet. 

I finished the second-quarterly taxes...5 days to spare, woo-hoo!

Clothes are washing, the son is fed...

What can I share with you?

I know, another old photo!

You're so lucky.....

That's me, the blonde in the red/plaid jumper.  Kelly Ridge is to the left, barely in the shot.  Judy Brown is standing to the left of me, in the plaid dress.  Cindy Coppolino is the girl in the white blouse, leaning in and Debbie Kennedy is in the dark dress with her back to the camera. 

Those were the days when little girls wore dresses to parties...and we looked darn cute!

It was the early '70s...look at the drapes on the window.  Those would be worth a fortune today.

 I think Mom and Dad took us girls to see a Disney movie...after all, what else was there to do in Buffalo, in January, in snow?

It was a great birthday!

she lay down her sweet head.

I had planned on today's post being a cheeky review of last night's get-together with my lovely and diverse batch of church-ladies.  The fun, the food, the wine...

My camera was waiting on a nearby table, ready to capture the fun moments of the evening.  Then I saw her peacefully sleeping and my heart couldn't resist. 

This is sweet Ava, the youngest member of our group.  She knows our voices, our secrets, our joys, our trials.  As we met each week, Ava was nestled safe & sound in her mommy's womb the entire 9 months of her early life.  We could hardly wait to meet this baby and kiss her fingers and toes, knowing she would be just as special to us as her mommy: sweet, honest, kind.

Then, there was this moment:  Precious.  Tender.  Comforting.  I'm not sure who's enjoying the rocking more. This lovely gem is Juanita.  Juanita is the eldest member of our group and we all adore her.  She's loving, generous, kind, spiritual.  Juanita has a great laugh, is wise and loves each one of us.

The church-ladies didn't talk much about anything in particular...it was just a fun gab-fest.  But the above moment is what I'll remember most about the evening.  Just to be in the same moment with these two lovelies was a gift. 

And isn't that what each of us is called to do in this life?   To hold, protect, nurture and love God's perfect, sweetest creations? 

Job well done, Juanita!

tale of 3 sisters & 1 brother.

I'd like for you to meet my girlfriends.

I believe it's important that one maintain friendships with people of all age-groups.  It keeps life real and fun.  Real fun.  Really, really fun!  My friends are 6 and under. 

These little beauties, along with their brother Charlie, came to my house for a visit.  They're modeling the little t-shirt dresses I made.  Bless their hearts, they couldn't wait to put those dresses on.  I melted.

Charlie got NUTHIN'!  Poor Charlie!

Charlie didn't even get a measly photo taken!

Charlie was busy wrestling my husband's big Lazy-Boy recliner.

Charlie won.

you can do whatever you feel!

My friend, Julie, has a membership at the Y. A group of her friends meet there every morning to exercise. Julie's a little crazy. Apparently, her group is competing with other groups at the Y in some kind of cult exercise contest. Julie's group would get 50 extra points if she could hornswaggle a friend to join the group in their quest for fitness. Guess who the sucker was that she convinced to get up early and join her for a round of torture? Yup. Me.

I fully anticipated meeting a nice group of interesting people at the Y. Nope. Just a group of premenopausal women. Lucky me.

Maybe Jillian would be there, screaming at me to "get up!" and ultimately, making me vomit!

Nope. Not even Bob was there to cajole me into inspired exercise. I did meet a nice young man, our trainer Jay. But he's no match for this group of middle-aged women. By the end of our hour of torture, the hormonal women were barking orders at him, poor soul. I don't know if he kept looking at his watch to time our exercise, or in anticipation of our hour expiring and us leaving.

What kept me going was my anticipation of leaving the Y, looking like a famous model. Christie Brinkley would be just fine.

Nope. I still look like Maxine and gravity is still working against me.

more nunsense.

It started with the great "Matching Shirts Caper" provided by my parents and visiting brother. Mike treated us to lunch.

Followed by these beautiful flowers from Suzy and a dinner to the Mossfire Grill in Riverside. The best Steak Salad in the universe and 2-for-1 wine, who could resist? Thank you, Suzy. It was a great evening.

More "nunsense" from Kathy. "Fun now, Penance Later." Gotcha!

Dinner at The Landing, then on to our night job dancing on the chorus line. You don't believe me? Hey, I took a shot! The show was excellent, Kathy had to restrain me from getting out of my seat and tap-dancing up to the stage. I so badly wanted to get to the stage and help the character sing T_ T _ & A _ _!

A beautiful and inspirational book. When I opened the gift after the show in the darkness, I didn't see this...

A lovely inscription which I discovered sitting in the chapel during our hour of adoration. It was an extra bonus, a special note from a friend during a special time of the week. Loved it!

And this funky little tripod, which is really a great little tool for picture-taking. Fabulous!


Thank you, Suzy and Kathy...you're the dearest friends and I love each of you more than you'll ever know!

shower power!

A BEARY BABY STORY

A few years back, my family and I decided to attend a different church in our diocese, one that was closer to home. One in which we could tear through the deserted streets early on Sunday mornings to beat the 8 AM church bell.

We were blessed to have fallen in love with Assumption Parish, a beautiful traditional church that is reminiscent of the church I grew up in, during the Renaissance (I held the paint palette for Michelangelo. A sloppy painter, by the way, until I whipped him into shape and told him to get his act together!).

For several years my guys and I just sat in the pew, taking a break from the very active parish we had come from. We weren't about to get caught up in a whirlwind of activity in this church.

Right. Jason took the plunge first, and joined the men's Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP). After his weekend retreat, he seemingly found such peace in his relationship with Jesus. I, on the other hand, was firmly planting my heels into the asphalt of the church parking lot, denying my need to attend this boring weekend. But as often happens, I felt a nudge in my heart, prompting me to change my mind and not to be outdone by my convert-husband. I signed up for the upcoming women's weekend and found love, peace and renewal.

I am so glad I disengaged my heels from the asphalt and took the leap into the world of CRHP. Had I not, I would never have been at this gathering last night...

Meet Maureen. I stalked her on our CRHP weekend, staring her down, examining her face and wondering where I had seen her before! And let me tell you, she has the most beautiful eyes and smile I have ever seen. She lights up the room when she laughs. See her belly? Maureen is the guest of honor...

.......at her baby shower! Yay, a party! Look at all the delicious food the girls brought. And the balloons were outrageous and fun! Lisa and Joanne did the bulk of the decorating and boy, was I relieved! 'Cause it would have looked like a redneck trailer park party had I decorated.

Did I mention that I'm Catholic? I guess by the bottles of wine, you would have guessed that. Catholic girls know how to party...not that much of that wine was consumed, mind you. But it's always nice know that it's there. PARTY!!!

And here is our dear Juanita. She's our girl Friday, the gal who does it all. Really. She has the ability to anticipate the next move hours before that next move is set to take place and then she pounces! I just stand there, like the Comcast turtles. Juanita is on it, man!

This is what you'd call a gaggle of giggling girls. Yup. There are a lot more around somewhere...hello girls, where are you?

Then there are these three...trouble. With a capital "T" that rhymes with...never mind (name that musical). Oh, I have my eye on them. They're always laughing, joking around, being mischievous...pssst....*two of them are teachers! When there's an undercurrent of static, it's these three, giggling, laughing, whispering. Hey, I want to join...

Gifts! That's what we came here for! Gifts! We had no clue, no inkling as to what we should buy. We were lost. Maureen had the audacity not to find out the sex of her baby! I'm all for being surprised at the moment of birth. Afterall, when I was pregnant I didn't find out the sex of my baby. But that's not acceptable at the showers I'm invited to! What am I supposed to make for this baby? There are no co-ed fabrics out there...crikey! Once that little mooshka of a baby arrives, I'm going to have to go into yet another sewing frenzy, gender-appropriate flurry of creativity. Thanks, Maureen! (She did that to get double stuff...diabolical plan...)

Wait! Hold on! I detect a girl outfit. I know boys don't wear Hello Kitty! Hmmmm...one of the CRHP girls is using her powers of persuasion to get a girl-baby birthed. Wow, I didn't know that one could do that. Just buy a gender-appropriate item and voila! The sex is now predetermined. Smart.

Then there was this blessing. As a ruse to throw Maureen a baby shower, Mary Jo suggested to the group that we host a baby shower benefiting the Women's Help Center. As part of the Center's program, they provide clothing and other items for mother's and babies in need. Gently worn or used items are accepted and quite often, new items such as clothing and diapers find their way to the Angel Closet at the Center. With Maureen present, I nervoulsy (I was afraid I was going to slip and spill the beans) explained to my peeps what was needed for the closet, emphasizing that if they didn't have any used items to donate, a little t-shirt or pants from Wal-Mart ($3-$6) would greatly be appreciated.

Suffice it to say, my sisters didn't stint on their giving in the least. Bags and bags of brand new baby clothing, diapers, binkies, bottles, toys were piled on the table. Gently used items like a Lands End jean jacket (help me, I swooned over that), a big rubber crate of shoes (oh, the cutest little sandals and tennis shoes), baby food, cash donations...

And this afternoon, I found these Mary Janes in the back of my truck, amidst all the lovely donations I gathered last night. What little girl wouldn't love these shoes? What mother wouldn't be proud to place these precious shoes on her little girl's feet?

I am amazed at the power of the Holy Spirit, at the generosity of these women whom I call my sisters. I didn't ask for much, but they gave abundantly from their maternal hearts. Because of these women and many like them, babies all over the city will have decent clothing, warm blankets, clean bottoms. And mommies won't have to fret and cry that they have nothing decent for their children to wear.

Maureen lights up a room with her smile. My CRHP sisters light up a mother's life with their generous hearts. Babies are born. We smile and humanity is illuminated with the joy of new life, new love, joyful hearts.

Thank you, ladies. Perhaps one day, a mother who received your love in the form of baby clothing will one day be in a position to help another needy mother. And so it goes...the light shines on.

doggie addiction.

My friend Kathy is crazy over dachshunds. She has two adorable little dachshunds, or "doxies" as she calls them. I like that term, it fits her little doggies. They really are so cute...Shelby and Abby. So when I found this Japanese fabric on the Internet, I just had to have it for my girlfriend! All that was available was a fat quarter from Canada. It wasn't much material, but beggars can't be choosers. I anxiously waited for its arrival, and was soooo excited once it arrived. The fabric is delicious!

You may recall that I posted about what I was going to make here. I made two embellished dish towels, a key fob for Kathy and two minis for each of her daughters, along with these adorable little magnets with a box to present them in. The magnets are my favorite, they're so blinkin' cute! Magnet mania is on its way!

identity crisis.

Oy vay, I've had quite a break from blogging! Sorry about that, I guess the well ran dry, I had writer's block, my mojo left me, void of inspiration...whatever the reason, I'm back!

The above is my newest project that I cannot tell you about. Because it's a surprise! The fabric has been altered with adorable cyber stickers, to protect its identity. If the stickers come off, the recipient is bound to know it's for her. Thus, the top-secret, high-tech identity blockers. And if the project is successful and it looks decent, I'll post the finished product.

Stay tuned for the last installment of, "The Songs My Mother Sang To Me," it's a doozy! We sang it together Sunday. I wish I could record her singing it and post it on YouTube. How cool would that be?

Yakitty, Yak...

To women everywhere, no matter which corner of the earth you live, I present to you our next fearless leader...

No training necessary...

lazy day.

Happy Mother's Day!

little RAP!

Kathy and I just returned from the annual RAP Tour Of Homes, here in Jacksonville, FL. We toured 10 amazing homes, all of which were built in the early 1900's. It was a beautiful day for the tour and while I did not take nearly the amount of photos I had intended to, I did remember towards the end of the tour to snap away.

Here is where I call home. In my dreams. It's a lovely little homestead, don't you agree?

It was a perfect day for walking the hood in search of my dream home. The above house was a nice little place, had beautiful drapes and stunning chandeliers. The kitchen was amazing and the porch, which really is another room, was lovely.

Oh, my! What an amazing idea. Look at this bed's headboard, it looks like the back of a couch. It made me want to jump on the bed and cozy in to watch a little telly. But I didn't, Kathy wouldn't let me!

Mmmm, we stopped in at this adorable catering shop, for some free yummies. WOW! If you live in the Jacksonville area, check it out. It's not a restaurant, rather, "A full service catering and gourmet takeaway shop." She had some amazing goodies, like fried cheese and bacon appetizers, fresh out of the oven. There were some little pork tenderloin sandwiches on tiny buns, a delicious sour cream pound cake and dare I mention the butterscotch brownies?

This is my new best friend, Allison, the brains of the operation, along with her cousin/helper in the kitchen. Tell her I sent you, we've known each other a long time...like 5 minutes. But I think I can learn to love her...you will too, after you taste her delicious food! Here's her address, if you live in the area and need fabulous food for one of your fabulous events:

SHEFF'S

2251 Oak Street

Jacksonville, FL

904-387-9036

Now I'm off to bartend at baby shower my friend Suzy is hosting...that really doesn't sound right. Maybe it's a bridal shower. I'm not sure which it is, but I get to hang out at the bar, so I don't really care!

summer doggy-do.

Before: our furry little beast, sweet B.B.


After: doesn't she look ticked? (No pun intended). I think she thinks that she's thinking she had too much fur cut off. What do you think?


She's acting sassy, frisky, like she did when she was a puppy. Do you feel that way after a trip to your stylist?



Girl, shake that tail, strut your stuff! You know you're looking fine!

friendship recipe.

I have a new friend, Annie. I acquired her at PF Chang's two Saturdays ago. My girlfriend Suzy has a charming tradition of bringing a hostess gift to an invited party. Being an independent thinker, I decided to put a twist on Suzy's little tradition and bring a gift to Annie, kind of a "you're my new friend" gift. Upon meeting Annie, I was thrilled to discover that she was fun, talkative and charming. Hi, Annie. Thanks for being my friend. I had fun at dinner, you and Russel made me laugh.

A few days later, Jason came home with this bag of "stuff" and directions. How wonderfully clever, what a from-the-heart gift from Annie. Amish Friendship Bread Starter. Hi, Annie, I adore this gift. Thank you so much, it's like having a piece of you right here on my counter! I mix it every day and let the gas out of the bag (not me!).

You see, you have to take care of this starter and follow the directions. Which makes me think of Annie and the fun we had at dinner. And what a cute couple Annie and Russel are. And how I can't wait for the day to make the bread. Isn't that the way of friendship: taking care of the starter and over time, watching it bloom into a beautiful loaf of bread.

***And yes, my counter tops are turquoise. Jealous?

Riverside Arts Market, Jacksonville: Part I

You're acquainted with these two ladies...Ivy and Irene. Or is it Irene and Ivy? One is my mother-in-law, the other, her sister. I know who's who, but do you? I met them this morning, down at the Riverside Arts Market, a new "happening" here in Jacksonville. Today was the Grand Opening and boy, was it a huge success! Ivy is the unofficial mayor of this event. She knows every brick by name, every plant as it was planted. We checked on its progress at least twice a week and sometimes Ivy would sneak down there on her own, just to see what changes had occurred while she slept. It all takes place under the two bridges, complete with an open-air "theater."

Here is a lovely young woman, who's name escapes me. She makes extraordinary jewelery, tiny beads intricately woven into wonderful shapes and designs. She was very friendly and filled me in on the process of getting set up in the Market. She also has an Etsy store, lemongrove.etsy.com.

Here's another friend, I don't remember his name. Oh please, give me a break! I want to call him Clyde, I can't imagine why! He sells homemade cakes. What a smile! I couldn't resist him. He was as charming as his smile, I promise you that. Yummy cakes for sale, but all I could seem to focus on was his smile. Check out the sweet story of how this cake business came to be, right here.

OK. These are amazing soaps. And I did ask for a business card, but I don't think they had any. And the man was kind of grumpy, so I didn't take his picture. So there! That'll larn 'ya to be cranky with me! But the soaps were lovely.

So many, many people. So many, many dogs on leashes. Two twins. Two curious, lively & energetic twins. Need I even mention that we got separated? No, I didn't think there was a need for that...anyway, after searching high and low, I found the two darlings on a bench, eating some just-purchased English pasties and people-watching. I was tempted to sternly warn them about the dangers of walking away from my side, but they were so cute sitting there on the bench. So I sat with them and marveled at their treasures...

**Tomorrow, Part II of the Amazing Riverside Arts Market adventure.

Birthday tea, for 4!

Meet the identical Birthday Girls, Irene and Ivy. Or is it Ivy and Irene? Hello...which one is which? Oh, I know who's-who. But do you? Hmmmm? OK, I'll tell you. Aunt Irene is on the left. She just completed the River Run here in Jacksonville, a 10-mile run right at about 2.5 hours. The amazing fact is (shhhhh, don't tell anyone...they're 84-yrs. old!). Ivy, also my mother-in-law, is my walking partner. She motivates me to walk the bridges and she witnessed me walking faster than a locomotive. She jogs, too. So amazing. When tying her shoes, she bends down like a kindergartner. Now that's pretty flexible! We laughed, we talked, we sipped real tea...what fun these ladies are! I'm so glad that I married her son, her nephew! No old stick-in-the-mud mother-in-law for me! No sir, I have a real firecracker! And her firecracker sister!

This lovely picture is of the two identical birthday girls and my Mom. Look at how pretty Mom's skin is. Mom is (shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone) 74! (I know it's not nice to give ages, but when women look as incredible as these three, pride trumps etiquette). Mom and I treated the Twins to lunch at a wonderful tea room in an area of town known as Five Points. Lunch was delicious and we topped it off with scones. Oh my, they were soooo delicious. I forgot to mention that our Twins are British. Mom and I let them order our tea, 'cause quite frankly, we know nothin' 'bout tea!

I've fallen in love with this little tea pot and cups. So cute! Hello, Kitties! We poked around the merchandise and "oohed" and "aahed" over it all.

What a charming tea set. Everything is set up just so. It's really quite quaint. How many tea sets does a British woman own? No, it's not a joke, I'm serious. Twins? What's the answer?

This is the wall on the way to the loo. Do you know what a "loo" is? Yes, it's the ladies room. I thought a little British lingo was appropriate at this time. Go and share your new knowledge.

Thanks for a lovely day, Birthday ladies and Lady Mom.

Tomorrow, a few more photos of the Twins and Mom.

Oh, there's one more thing...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!

Linda is my sister-in-law and if she lived in Florida, she'd have been sipping tea with us, too!