Surprise....

I'm back. Only for a minute though. I've been wanting to finish up this blog and I truly just have not gotten around to it. I have loved my four years of "One Year of Opus." LOVED THEM. This blog introduced me to some great people. It gave me a forum. It let me tell the world, and myself, about my mom dying. It captured so many moments of my son growing up, my own changes, and things happening in the world. Now, I need to move on. It's time. I like change. I think I would like to start another blog. If you are reading this and would like to know what my new blog is called, send me an e-mail at jilliebug@aol.com.

Catch up....
Since my last post, I have started an Art Gallery (galleryone13.com), written a few poems, gone to Kansas a couple times and Jackson Hole, WY. My son is in the 8th grade, I'm teaching school, and Barry is throwing more pots. I teach poetry at the jail. I have, a hundred times, experienced things that made me think; I need to blog about this! But I didn't. I feel a little sad to bring this blog to a close. But it really was all about having a year to be creative, and to appreciate, and then having that year turn into a year of being present with my mom while she spent months dying. I am still so thankful for that year.

I also felt, at times, that I couldn't be free in my writing because I knew that there were people I didn't really want knowing my every move, reading my blog. I felt inhibited at times. Unsure. And that's not how I wanted to write. Like I said, it's time to move on.

On November 1st of this year, 2011, I started a FB post of gratitude. I'm including it here.....


Gratitude month. Day two. Car heater.
(Day one I posted on Maggie Carrillo's page...Opposable thumbs)

Gratitude month. Day three. Of course, my mom and dad. Even though they're gone, they have an impact on everything I do, everything I say, and the way I live my life. The two best people I've ever known.

‎"You know what we're gonna do? We're gonna live like we are telling the best story in the whole world."
—Penelope from the movie, The Brothers Bloom

Gratitude month. Day 4. My boy. A thirteen-year old that still likes me. Honest, funny, kind and occasionally sassy and annoying :)

Gratitude month. Day 5. Books. Real books that smell like paper and rustle when I turn the page. Ones that I can dog-ear and stack by my bed.

Gratitude month. Day 6. Bathtubs.

Gratitude month. Day 7. These carrots. They were nestled underground, beneath the snow, waiting for me dig them up today, tops still green, brilliant orange. They taste so good. I am amazed that from a tiny seed they became carrots.


Gratitude month. Day 8. Memories. I am lucky to have good memories. Oh, there's some yuck in there too, but I pretty much just stuffed those in a big fat balloon and let them go (metaphorically of course) (oh, and after I learned what I needed to learn) (oh, and often it took me a few go rounds). But yes, lots of good memories here.

gratitude month, day 9, poems.

Day 10. My blood family. John, Jayann, Suzy, Neal, Ann, Jerry, Jim, Jennifer, your kids and mine. We make each other crazy, but we love each other more. I'm very thankful to have been born into this bunch.

Gratitude month. Day 11. Sight. There is so much to see.

Day 12. Getting older, which I write in the context of knowing the alternative.

Gratitude month. Day 13. Ghirardelli Sea Salt Soiree chocolate bars and red wine :) Almost as much to fun to say as to indulge in. Almost.


Gratitude month. Day 14. Barry.

Day 15, coffee. Cup after cup after cup.

Gratitude month. Day 16. Okay. I have to admit this. Facebook. Here's why...I see so many names of "friends" pop up on comments or likes, and you know, I might not have seen some of these people for decades, but I like ALL of them. And suddenly, because of facebook, I kind of know them again, even in just a "hey, you're still out there" kind of way. It's warm and comforting. Thank you. Oh, and I'm also thankful when people on FB use your/you're correctly :)

Gratitude month. Day 17. Breathing. I love breathing.

Gratitude month. Day 18. Roly polies and lady bugs. I love these bugs. Something about them makes me happy.

Day 19. Flagstaff. What a place to live. Very thankful. Now, just so you know, that was not my first choice today. I realized I'd named most of the big stuff; friends, family, etc, and I'm now moving on to the other, everyday blessings. So my first thought was, man, am I thankful for regular bm's. But that, of course, might offend people. But, seriously? Thankful. So anyway, I spared you from that by choosing something else for my Gratitude day 19.

Day 20. Gratitude month. I can't believe I actually was thankful for regular bm's before I mentioned health. Holy cow! Health is one of my top one gratitudes. I am so blessed to just be able to walk and talk and eat and move about....and that's all health related. Good health is the greatest blessing.

“Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.”—H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Day 21. Quotes. A good quote can change perspective and/or attitude. Give hope. Encourage empathy. Promote understanding.

Gratitude month. Day 22. The "rant and rave" section on Craig's List. Some funny stuff in there.

Gratitude month. Day 23. Brake repair shops that are kind and honest and quick and do a good job AND 380.00 cheaper than the first place that said I needed to get new rotors BUT I DIDN'T REALLY NEED THEM.

Gratitude month. Day 24. Thankful all around. For everything I mentioned on the last 23 days, and then for the safe, easy uneventful drive to San Luis Obispo today. Yay vacation!

day 25, in san luis obispo, thankful for starfish and sea anemones, 70 degree weather in november, and monarch butterflies migrating.

Gratitude month. Day 26. Thankful that I have a job. Actually a couple of them. Not getting rich but paying the mortgage.

Gratitude month. Day 27. Ahhhh. Vacations are good. Thankful today for the safe trip back to my Flagstaff. Also, olallieberry cobbler. Big yum.

Day 28. The cat, Margaret, who is sleeping on the suitcase. The dog, the super Stan man, who is a little nervous and barks at skunks. The guinea pig, Buddy, who has a silly face and makes wonderful noises when he's happy. The turtle, Herman, who does nothing but dig deep in his world and sleep for days at a time. The chickens, the ladies, giving us eggs and clucking.

“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.”—Arthur Rubinstein

Gratitude month. Day 29. Gravity. Think about it.

Gratitude month. Day 30. All of it. The failures and the successes, the hope and the despair, the sadness and the unimaginable joy, the loss and the healing. I am grateful for the whole beautiful mess. All of it.

Grateful. Every day. Every breath.

Here too is my Christmas letter too (hahaha, getting it all in!)

Merry Christmas

IT’S THAT WONDERFUL TIME OF YEAR WHEN I GET TO
CHECK IN WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY, CELEBRATE THE
SEASON, AND SHARE A BIT ABOUT OUR LIFE.....AND MAYBE
HEAR BACK A LITTLE ABOUT YOURS.....

Here's the News from 2011....

* I opened a small art gallery, Gallery 113, in downtown Flagstaff. I
love going to work! I’m still teaching at the community college too.
Check out the gallery at....galleryone13.com
* Jay is a awesome. I’m a lucky mom. He is playing basketball, drums
and video games, getting good grades, being kind, honest and
loving, and is looking forward to the snow.
* Barry is teaching ceramics at the community college and working
in Extended Campus Advising at NAU. He finished our back patio
this year, along with about 10 other projects and he is NOT looking
forward to the snow :)
* Jay and I traveled to Kansas for a week, and Jackson, Wyoming for
a long weekend. We have so much fun going places. The train to
Kansas was great fun, as always, but he’s starting to consistently
beat me at dominoes so I need to sharpen up my game.
* We are going on a cruise January 1st. I’ve never been on one but I
hear they’re relaxing. I’ll be ready for it by the New Year.
* My entire family, all 30 of us, met in St George, Utah for a few
days and had a blast. One house, 12 bedrooms, talent shows, kids
everywhere, practical jokes, good conversation. Sweet!
* I still think about, and miss, my folks everyday. I think they would
be happy, and proud of all of us. I guess that’s a good measure on
how one lives their life.
* And finally, here’s a quote I’d like to share with you.......
“Life is short, live bold! Be heard, be you, dream big, take
risks, don’t wait!—Unknown

There, that's it.
So, if anyone reads this, know that I loved writing it. All four years. I am still a writer. I am still here.

P.S. I just got so excited that I can start a new fucking blog!!!

Starbucks Customer

I Love Spring

Two sites that have made me laugh out loud in the last week.......

Princess Beatrice and her hat

and

Chuck Norris facts

I'm not really sure what this sudden adoration for sophomoric humor can be attributed to, but it's sure giving me the giggles.

Okay, and I'm also ready for the movie, "The Hangover, Pt 2" to be released.

Enough said.

Deep Thoughts

There are so many new diseases. And everyone has one. Bi-polar, chronic fatigue syndrome, various eating disorders. I'm sure all these things are very real, especially to the people going through them, and I mean no disrespect. I just think if we called them by descriptive names, they would make more sense. Such as, "sensitivity to people irratating me," "normal reaction to sadness and tragedy," and "I'm angry but don't want to/am afraid to show it so I'll just be tired instead."

I have a couple tics I'd like to break. One is the "twirling my hair" tic, and the other is the "bite the inside of my mouth" tic. I've been doing the TMH tic for years and I tried to stop several years ago. Then, in some magazine, probably "People," I read that Jennifer Aniston twirls her hair and I thought, hey, if she does it, it must not be that bad of a habit. A few days ago, while twirling my hair, I realized I don't have her money or her body and if I did, I could allow myself the TMH tic, but since I do have things about myself that could stand a little improvement, I need to lessen that one. The BTIOMM tic is a newer one and I think I'm getting a handle on that one. It's just a matter of being aware and saying, (quietly in my head) stop it.

Last night I was watching an infomercial for "Brazilian Butt Lift" (really).....a set of 3 exercise DVDs. It looked very interesting but I figured it was a scam. I googled it, then ebayed it. After that extensive research, I saw that it was a very legitimate exercise tape. But it was selling for big bucks on ebay. I bid on it, thinking, I just want to see what this sells for, and knowing that as the price rose, the acceleration would pop up on my email and I could see how much it actually sold for. Except that I did this late at night and there was only an hour left for bidding. So, now I own it, or at least it's on the way to my house. I did not mean to buy it. How great it would be if I really used it, exercised, got fit. Instead it will be like that old exercise bike that sits in the corner, never used, only I won't be able to hang clothes on the DVD. At least it gives me a reason to say, Brazilian Butt Lift.

It would be a plus if I only hit the snooze button once in the morning instead of seven times.

I wonder if my insurance covers "I could use a few changes and a heavy dose of motivation but I'd rather bitch and moan?"

Glitter Hole

Well, first I called this post "Family" and then was struck by how boring that was...then struck by how much angst I have at BEING boring, or at least writing boring things...like post titles that say "Family".....so then I made the conscious decision to try to not be boring. What happened? I came up with a good post title.

My family has reunions every 3 or 4 years. We like to stay in big houses where we can all fit because we like to eat breakfast together in our pajamas and play cards late into the night. It's difficult to do those things in a hotel when there's, at last count, about 35 of us. Now, this is just my brother, sister and myself, and our immediate families. Each of my siblings have 3 kids (actually adults now) with a few kids of their own. Except me, and I have just one young one. My brother and sister are about 20 years older than I am so their kids are my age. Anyhoo, this year we rented a place in St George, Utah. It had 10 bedrooms, two pools, a kitchen with two of everything including stoves, and a huge yard. There were 16 adults and 13 kids.

It started last Saturday. Twelve of my relatives drove into Flagstaff from Kansas and spent the night. I had planned on BBQing in the back yard so we could all be outside, as my house is not that big and there would be 15 of us eating and talking and lots of kids roaming about. The week had been beautiful weather-wise and tulips were coming up. But it's Flagstaff so instead we got a foot of snow on Saturday. Hahaha. Sunday morning we got up and planned to hit the road early to get to Vegas where we were going to spend Sunday night, along with the rest of the family who were going to meet us there. We had two, three bedroom suites at this timeshare place and we all wanted to get to Vegas early so we could explore, as a few of my family had never been there before. We had wanna-be gamblers, kids who wanted to see the dancing waters, and B and I thought we would get over to a bar called Money Plays to see my blog friend, Tyge. Out the door at 9:00 a.m. we got gas and headed onto highway 40. Three exits down we came to a very sudden and absolute stop. "Shit! Must be a wreck. We should be moving soon." I said. We did. We moved up about a half mile and were herded off the highway and back to Flagstaff. As we pulled off the highway and onto Flagstaff Ranch Road, my niece, Jennifer leaned out the passenger window and tried to talk to the cop directing us down the road and back on the highway. "Hey, we need to get to Vegas. How can we do that?" she hollered at him. Didn't even look at us. "Can't" was all he said.

After Internet and phone help, we found out it would be 11:30 before the road would open. So, we decided to go downtown and explore a bit of Flagstaff. Then, we were told it was going to be 1:30, then 3:30 before we could leave Flagstaff. Ugh!!!!! There WAS no detour. No where to go....well, except maybe drive to PRESCOTT and then up to ASHFORK. Hours out of the way. So, that's what we did. While we should have been in Vegas by 1:00, we ended up pulling in around 6:30. By the time we got to the room, unloaded bags, headed to dinner, and took all the kids to the dancing waters, it was midnight. Did I have time to play Roulette? Barely. Did I lose money at Roulette? Yes. Did I have time to win it back? No. Did we get to Money Plays? No.

So Vegas was merely a blink of the eye. A little over 12 hours and we were out of our rooms and heading to The Valley of Fire. We did stop first at The Palace Station for the breakfast buffet, which my brother had said was 4.99 (which was all I had left after playing 15 minutes of roulette), because he went in the day before and got the promise of a discount from the Asian lady at the counter....who wasn't there the next morning to okay it so we ended up paying the regular 7.99 price. Picture this; my sister at the register trying to explain that my brother, who was 25 people (who were NOT relatives) back, had SAID we get the 4.99 discount and the NEW Asian lady saying, "No. So sorry. Only with Palace Station card." And my sister yelling over the 25 people to my brother, who started yelling back about HIS story from the day before. At that point I just wanted to pay whatever it was gonna cost to get out of that line.

The Valley of Fire was about an hour outside of Vegas on the way to St George and kind of cool. Big rocks colored various reds and pinks and oranges. When you have nine cars caravaning it can get a little tense when someone needs to make a bathroom stop or wants to read a road marker but four of us had walkie-talkies and that worked okay. We made it to the trail head and hiked a bit. At that one stop there were people (my family) crying, laughing, exhausted, raring to go, excited, angry, loving, impatient, positive, negative and nervous. I decided right there that a family that big in one place is like a whole city, what with all the varied emotional content. After all the driving I had done the day before, I was just ready to get to St George.

The house was great. Two of the bedrooms were bunk rooms so the girls had one and the boys had the other. The other eight were split among the adults. The jacuzzi didn't work the first night so we had to call the pool guy. We had a talent show, a secret family society initiation, and several group cooking experiences. We watched DVDs of Ann and Jay Divine, our parents and grandparents, the two people we all had in common, and remembered them and talked about them and told stories. On the third day, my nephew Neal went to the BLM and found information on a great place called "The Glitter Hole." It was a several mile drive outside of St George on windy dirt roads until we came upon a couple mounds of what looked like broken glass at first. But then, when we got out of the cars and walked over to it, there was a huge pit on the other side filled with Selenite. There were a million pieces of it and the walls of the pit (a good 50 feet deep) were lined with it. It was awe inspiring. (Okay, so isn't Las Vegas a Glitter Hole too? Get it? The blingy, wild, sparkling city lights of Vegas and the hole filled with sparkling smooth glass-like gems. Oasis in the desert! Both of them.)

On Thursday morning, we all packed up and went our separate ways...California, Wyoming, Florida, Kansas and Arizona. One thing I particularly liked was that we all stayed until everything was done. No one left before everyone could leave. We all drove out the driveway together.

Is Spring Break Over Yet?

I always tell my students, Please, please come back after spring break. It might be tempting, because of the glorious weather and the glimpse of freedom, to never come back. But do. Come back after spring break. And then, I did what I tell my students not to...I didn't come back after spring break. Not to class, I mean here. I didn't come back here after spring break. I got busy, I had fun doing other things, and I stopped writing. Now I'm back. But I had a great spring break :)

A lizard played an April Fools on our cat. Magpie has proven herself to be quite the criminal. She's brought several dead birds into the house through the dog door. A few more have been left by the door on the back porch. April 1st I heard her outside meowing to come in. I opened the door and she slipped through my legs into the house and I saw a poor little lizard, dead as a doornail on the patio. I love those little guys, so on the off chance it was still alive, I poked at it a few times to see if I could rouse it. Nope, dead as could be. I left it out there and scolded Miss Kitty. About an hour later I happened to glance out the window and I saw that lizard limping over to the side of the house. Holy Schmoly! The damn thing WAS alive. I kept the cat inside for another hour and by then the lizard was up and running. All fingers and toes unfurled and functioning. After making sure the lizard was gone, I let the cat out. That cat went right over to where she left that lizard. Gone! She looked all over the patio. It was pretty funny, seeing the cat looking perplexed. I imagined that lizard....yeah, you thought I was dead? You were going to come out and bat me around some more? April Fools cat!

Jay and I caught a Phoenix Suns game over spring break. We also saw K-State play an NCAA game in Tucson. We saw The Body exhibit at the Museum of Science. I cleaned my house and I put a bunch of stuff on ebay. I read a book during the middle of the day. See, I've never JUST taught school (aside from my oneyearofopus) and so usually I worked all through spring break. Spring break meant nothing except that I had to figure out where Jay was going to go while I worked my OTHER job. This year I got the week off and it was wonderful. Kind of makes me want to be a teacher :)

Ever heard of Bountiful Baskets? Google it. (I'd put up links but I am not skilled enough to do that while still being lazy) Fifteen bucks a week and I get tomatoes, apples, mangoes, carrots, asparagus, lettuce, onions, pineapple, etc. It's CRAZY. Two bushel baskets of food. So, I end up with food I don't usually buy and I have to figure out what to do with it. I made an apple pie. From scratch, baby. I slice mangoes up and eat them for breakfast. I made sweet potaoe mashed potatoes last night. Cheap AND tasty. Check out Bountiful Baskets.

Oh, and B fired a plethora of pots (actually vases, mugs, a VERY cool watering can, and some other beauties) at the NAU soda kiln this last week. It's such an amazing, yet time and energy consuming process, and still so worth it at the end. There are so many talented artists throwing clay here in Flagstaff, and then a few of them get together and load the kilns, fire for 5 days, and when they open the kiln, you just have no idea what happened in there. Did things explode? Did their glaze and the soda combine to create wild blues and reds and greens? Did the best favorite piece of all time crack apart like an egg?
The anticipation is big and yet one should never expect anything. Hope without attachment.

I am so ready for summer. This year the raised bed gardens are ready to plant, the patio is begging to be sat on with a beer, and the chickens are laying again. A month and a half of school left to teach......ahhhh.

As for spring break....I truly had several students in each class disappear. And they were so close.

I Love Comments

I caught one!!! I put out my bait and hook, and reeled one in!!!! My beautiful friend, girlstayput, commneted on something she loves. Thank you!!! Now, all you other ya-hoos, tell me what you love. Damnit. Thank you, girlstayput, for giving me faith in humankind again. Now I have to go watch Charlie Sheen's "Winning Recipes" on Funny or Die. Google it!

Here's girlstayput commenting......

"I love this blog, and the moment of reflection it requires. It's not the same as FB asking what's on your mind, cause the easy answer is "cheese". Your blog is more mindful, reminding me to be creative, be grateful, have some fun, dammit."

Accepting more comments now!!!!!

Just wondering.....

I LOVE knowing what other people think.....so write a comment about something you love and I'll post them all Thursday. Yay!!! And this is not a cop-out. I really love other thoughts and perspectives. I want to know what you love.

If you're in Flagstaff, I'm reading poetry at Uptown Billiards Wednesday night, 6:00 pm......

Surprise

I love spontaneous dance-offs. The problem is, it's rare to see one here in Flagstaff. Occasionally I initiate one myself, but the last time I got sprayed with mace (party pooper), There are so many fun dances available and with Wii and Xbox 360 there are so many new ones still to learn. Combine "the swim" with Hammer's "You can't touch this" and you are a WINNER (no Charlie Sheen reference intended). The only downside....no prizes.

Slammer

I LOVE teaching poetry. It's one of the reasons I don't work a nine-five kind of job. The other reason I don't work a nine-five kind of job is that I would hang myself in a closet if I worked a nine-five kind of job. Hahaha. Not really. BUT, I do appreciate the flexibility I now have to teach poetry in the afternoon at the community college or, as I mentioned last night, at the jail. I work for the Exodus Program on a volunteer basis teaching poetry. There are 24 inmates in the program and more on the waiting list. To get into the program, inmates must apply and have drive and motivation to better themselves. It's mostly drug offenses, domestic violence, theft, etc.

The first day I went in I was nervous. I had no idea what it would be like or if I would be any good. I always go in with one of the Exodus workers, and we walk down quite a few steel-gated hallways to get to where the inmates are. It's a pod where all 24 sit at three tables and do their work. Off the main area there are 12 cells and it's two men to a cell. These are guys who want to improve. They are visited by groups that teach them life skills, financial skills and 12-step programs. And poetry. One of the essentials :)

We do mostly fill in the blank type poems. They are all so ready to write poems. They write about faith and their families, and about how they want to break bad habits and addictions. They are all so respectful and every one of them participates. After we take half an hour to write, I ask who wants to read theirs aloud first. No one. Then a hand goes up when it looks like I'm going to move on to the next thing, and then pretty soon they are all wanting to go next. When the two hours is over and I'm heading out the cold metal door, they are shouting out "thank you" and "see you next time."

I look out at these guys and see 24 people who have good intentions. They really want to make their lives work. They are sober and thoughtful and aware. I think it must be so much easier in there, in those cells, to have hope. There are no drugs sitting on the kitchen table or friends bringing over whiskey. There are no beer fueled fights or jobs to struggle with to keep. Their days are mapped out for them in a good way. I know that even though right now they want SO BADLY for life to work, most of them will have problems when they get out. Some will end up back inside, some will just end up drunk outside the corner liquor store. One of them wrote about that, about being the drunk at the corner liquor store, and how he doesn't ever want to be that again.

So I try to get them to write about the things that will get bottled up when they get out; the anger and fear and want that they are bound to have. I figure if I can get them to see it, recognize it and feel it, they might not allow it to eat at them until the only way to escape it is to numb it or give in to it. It's a harsh world on the outside, especially when you've lost your job and you have to find different kinds of friends to hang with. I'm going to arm them with poetry. Here's a fill-in poem for you to do. Send it back to me and I'll post them, anonymous if you want.....jilliebug@aol.com



“Me" Poem

Line 1: First Name


Line 2: Four descriptive traits

Line 3: Sibling of...


Line 4: Who loves..... 


Line 5: Who fears... 


Line 6: Who needs... 


Line 7: Who gives... 


Line 8: Who would like to see... 


Line 9: Resident of... 


Line 10: Last Name

Sample:

Alysa
Short, feisty, artsy, crafty
Sibling of Phyllis and Sam
Loves cats and flowers
Fears fatal errors
Needs a healthy network
Gives help where needed
Would like to see peaceful blooms and fur flying
Resident of NJ
Cummings



Fear and Wanting Poem

I am afraid of _______________________________

I am afraid of ________________________________

I am afraid that ________________________________

I am afraid that _______________________________

I am even afraid _________________________________

I am afraid of __________________________________

I am afraid ____________________________________

I am afraid that ____________________________________

I am afraid that ___________________________________

I am even afraid ___________________________________

I want ______________________________________

I want ________________________________________

I want ______________________________________

I want ________________________________________

I even want ______________________________________

I want ______________________________________

I want _________________________________________

I want ________________________________________

I want _________________________________________

And I want ___________________________________

Most of all.



Sample;

I am afraid of spiders

I am afraid of lightning strikes

I am afraid that the milk has gone bad

I am afraid that the well will run dry

I am even afraid I might show up ten minutes late

I am afraid of final exams

I am afraid of making speeches

I am afraid that my math may be wrong

I am afraid that I'll say a bad word

I am even afraid of the dark

I want friends who smile back

I want fresh fruits and vegetables

I want fewer reruns on summer TV

I want 50% off sales

I even want to read books with happy endings

I want to laugh

I want to sing

I want to dance

I want to get the joke

And I want to be here

Most of all

I love knowing my limits

I love working with inmates. Really. I teach poetry for the Exodus program at the jail. I love it. I am going to tell you all about it when I write in the morning because I'm a little tired right now. So, I'm going to sleep.

Cause and effect

I really really like solving problems. Here's the problem - my blogs are short, uninsightful and boring. The cause - I'm writing them late at night. Solution - Write them in the morning. Done and done.

Chuck

Love does not really = fascinate. But I am surely fascinated by this whole Charlie Sheen debacle. Okay, as perverse as this might be, I even slightly love it. I watched a 26 minute clip of Charlie railing at his boss, his dad and his naysayers. "Bi-winner" and "bitchin rock star from Mars" and "brain from a different terrestrial realm." ???????? Really? We all secretly want to be him.

Based on a Novella

I adore writing long, involved, fascinating blog posts. This is not going to be one. And I have not written one for a week or so. I even took the weekend off. But I can say this. I am completely enthralled and entranced and blown away by the movie, Legends of the Fall. It is another (along with Shawshank Redemption) of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. It's so filled with tragedy. They should put up a stop light in that tiny hilltop cemetery because there's so much traffic. Anthony Hopkins is superb even before the stroke....and then after, with his closed eye and palsied face, AMAZING. Brad Pitt is beautiful and yet.....beautiful. He's also a damn good actor here. And did i mention, beautiful. Aiden Quinn is the lesser of the handsome men, and he's no slouch. And Julia Ormand is damaged and stunning and lost all at the same time. Great writing, acting, and directing. (Side note - April....I know this one made you shed a tear.) Oh, and did I mention the scenery?! Whoa. This is an EPIC movie.

It's the weekend

I LOVE taking the weekend off. And I am. I will be back on Sunday.

Logophile

Yes, I am a lover of words. That's what the post title means....a person who loves words. This was exhibited in my last post, although I was too lazy to go to the dictionary and really search for the good ones. If you want to get a unique word-a-day, check out wordsmith.org. They'll send a vocabulary word to your e-mail everyday and it will be unusual and one you've probably never used in a sentence. I use that site to get my vocab words for my English classes and lately we've had ambisinister, captious, pip and lacuna. Do you know any of those?! I didn't. Now I do.

mmmmmm

Did you think it was going to be about food?! No! I adore the letter M! Monkeys, money, mulberry, magazines, mercy. Mmmmmm. Music, moon, morning. Mother, motion, muscles, Metropolitan Museum of Art. My Man. Malarky. Mr Rogers. Monsoon, mudpie, mettle.

Short but Sweeeet

I heart bumper stickers. Not really. It's just that saying that makes me think of this one story. Remember those goofy-ass bumper stickers with the "I" then the "heart" symbol then the picture of the dog's head. And it would mean "I love my poodle." Well, a few years after those got popular I saw a bumper sticker that said, "I heart my dog's head." Hahahaha. Really. I laughed for days about that one. I heart my dog's head.

Homemade Pizza!

I be lovin my homemade pizza. Here's why I wrote that sentence like that......I'm on day 13 of my "30 days of stuff I love" and if I write the words, "I love...." one more time I will barf. As I recall, this happened last time too. I had to substitute other words in there. It just gets so TRITE. So, today, I be lovin my homemade pizza.

The routine is simple. Make some dough about an hour or two before dinner time (pour a nice little glass of red wine here and sip it slowly). Let the dough rise in a bowl, covered, on top of the stove. I usually turn the oven on for a few minutes to make the area warm on the stovetop. Then, divide the dough into thirds, ball up and let THAT sit for 15 minutes (you will have finished that first glass by now.....pour glass two). Olive oil the cast iron skillets, sprinkle with corn meal, preheat oven. Take each dough ball and flatten it out, throw it in the air (Go, B!) and flip it into a pan. Then, ahhhhh, the pizza making begins. Mine is always the same because I LOVE it so much (I said it again and it was really okay), pesto, mozzeralla, fresh tomato and garlic, a little parmesean. MMMMM. Jay's was red sauce, chicken/sundried tomato sausage, pepperoni, mozzerella and a few dollpos of pesto on the top. Barry's (the one pictutred) was both red sauce and pesto, broccoli (lots and lots of broccoli), cheeses, tomato, and garlic. He put a bit of fake meat in there too but decided next time to forgo it. You might need to top off that second glass of wine here. Bake for 13 minutes. Eat. Yum.

Snow

I LOVE driving in the snow. And by snow, I mean 18 inches of snow. I mean, put on the chains, back over the berm, and barrel down the block in your front wheel, 2-wheel drive Honda Pilot, over piles and piles of white serious snow. I laugh out loud like a crazy person and Jay looks cautiously over at me from the passenger seat and says, "You really like driving in this weather, don't you mom?" and I say, "Oh yeah." and off we go, to Joann Fabrics. Hahahaha. I can go anywhere with chains on my tires and I will stop on a DIME! I love the white swirling powder storm of snow against the windshield. I love driving through the hedges of snow. I think this is all I can say without sounding TOTALLY irresponsible and careless. Okay. Goodnight.