Had to share this...

My favorite ROCKIN' t-shirt company is doing a giveaway. I love my Wild Olive Tees! They are soft, fitted and oh so comfy! The girls and I LOVE to wear them!


Click the button below and check 'em out. AND, enter to win a free hoodie!


GO WILD!

Yeah, it IS Friday!

WHOA this week's been a doozie!
My wallet was stolen. I was pick pursed!
Hubbie is OUT of town. Nuff said.
The house land line is DEAD...again. (WHY do we still have one?)
The coffee pot died. (I have serious issues around caffeine.)
Kids are TRYING to get sick. (consulting my Bulk Herb Store resources.)
RAIN/GRAY/RAIN/GRAY/RAIN/SNOW/GRAY.

Aaaaaaah, BUT it's Friday!!!! So, I just chose to Fugetaboutit!!!
I'm MOVIN' ON people! Movin' on!!!!! I plan to watch a movie with my number one guy, celebrate the birthday of two of my favorite people, take an eager 13 year old to a dance, catch a few extra winks, go to God's house and learn somethin' new, and forget this blasted week!!!

Happy weekend to each of you!

Reminding myself to be...thankful, yep, thankful.

Almost wordless Wednesday

Before a cat will condescend
To treat you as a trusted friend,
Some little token of esteem
Is needed, like a dish of cream.
~T.S. Eliot

These kittens are brothers (Flynn and Sylvester) rescued from our local pound, they are sweet little guys! AND, they keep The Glen rodent free!

Please adopt your next pet from your local ANIMAL SHELTER. There are MANY wonderful, loving animals in NEED of homes.

Something to think on...

“Many times we withhold our forgiveness as a punishment to the one that hurt us. But, by doing so we are only punishing ourselves. Forgiveness is not a free pass to the offender; rather, it frees our hearts from the anger caused by hurt. An unforgiving heart is a hardened heart and, like an old, dried up sponge, a hardened heart is unable to soak up God’s love.”
– Elmer Laydon


Many years ago...I was deeply offended and hurt by the words of a man. He hurt my family. His words of righteous judgement cut like the sharpest knife. I have been angry and held a grudge against this man for more than two decades. Then, it occurred to me that this man will NEVER ask me for forgiveness. NEVER. My harboring ill will toward this man does nothing but hurt ME. Over a period of months of seeing this man again I have realized...he is just A MAN. Upon releasing this man and forgiving him...TRULY forgiving him, I have been granted a gift that I and only I have denied myself ALL THIS TIME.

I am a slow learner.


~google images

I love...

Favorite things...

For years now (since having children) I have been a studier of herbs and things organic. I am very invested in WHAT my family eats and work hard to provide them with healthy options. No, I do not concoct strange tinctures in a black kettle over an open fire BUT I have grown to see the BEAUTY of using nature's remedies over chemical remedies.

I thought I would share one of my favorite things with you and that is The Bulk Herb Store. A wonderful family started this business MANY years ago. You can buy lovely (FRESH) teas, herbs of all sorts to treat just about every illness known to man and also shop for organic gifts. They also sell garden seeds of all sorts including herbs and veggies that I can grow right here at The Glen. It is PURE pleasure for me to be able to grow some of these different plants. A current debate I have read about is with obesity and heart disease being such a problem in the US the over use of salt is being discussed AT LENGTH. The Bulk Herb Store carries the now, en vogue, Celtic Sea Salt that is rapidly becoming popular. It is popular as it has not been stripped of all its minerals like a typical salt you would find in your local market. The minerals are GOOD for us! The Bulk Herb Store is VERY reasonably priced and QUICK in their shipping.



Like Oprah...I just wanted to share ONE of my favorite things!

Weekend pleasures

What an amazing weekend we have had...
~A Friday filled with Valentine's Day parties...crafts, cupcakes, icing heart shaped cookies and games.
~Good friends over to share a simple meal and MANY, MANY laughs.
~A tournament basketball game that ended in over-time AND a WIN! SUCH fun to be a part of an audience of parents just cheering our hearts out!
~WARM weather...FORTY-FIVE degrees! Sunshine! My Sunday morning coffee on THE PORCH!

I found this little "love" treasure on my bedside table. A lil gift from a sweet nine year old! She is precious.



Happy Valentine's Day to ALL! It is my pleasure to have you all visit when you can. I so enjoy your "company!"

Winter

It is VERY cold 'round here today. About six degrees. But, it is NOT snowing (at the moment) for which I am grateful! We had some blue skies for a short while yesterday and it was beautiful.

The wild animals and birds are very hungry with the ice keeping them from food sources. I am NOT happy about the coyotes coming close to the house! My neighbor caught this lil guy in her feeder. He IS cute isn't he? (Thanks Sharon!) The raccoons like to steal cat food from our garage dish...this makes The Glen barn cats VERY unhappy!

In the DRAB and GRAY weather color is ALWAYS welcome and we have LOTS of Cardinals in our part of the world! They are fun to watch and eager for some seed.


STAY WARM!

WHIO Public Photos

Watching Christine Aguilera sing at the Super Bowl Sunday night I was reminded of this SNL skit from years back. I post it NOT to be disrespectful of our national anthem but some of Christine's lyrics were a bit OFF. She sang beautifully and dressed QUITE modestly...



I DO love the Super Bowl advertisements!
What were your favorites?
I leaning toward Doritos commercials!

A touch of spring

I have a small stack of garden catalogs that conveniently arrived in the midst of what people are now calling, "SNOWmagedden." How timely, as I looked at EVERY SINGLE page of them this weekend. The colors sucked me in after being surrounded by so much white snow and gray skies for SO long! I enjoyed folding over the corners on pages with ideas and plants that caught my fancy.

Nate has been working hard for some time on the design greenhouse at school and with the exception of flowers (yet to be planted) it is almost complete. He took us over to have a look at the greenhouse and being in the WARM, GREEN, HUMID atmosphere was wonderful. I am thinking that he should create a stone and water area much like this at The Glen.




This sculpture of a student carrying books was done by a welder that recently passed away. They have several of these interesting pieces around campus.


The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
~~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Doing NOTHING

A couple of snow days and it is bliss to me. To have my whole family home. To have TIME to do nothing, to play endless games, read picture books, baking treats, N*rf gun wars, to watch a movie or listen to music. To SLOW DOWN and ENJOY the pure joy of what family is...to TAKE time --- to MAKE time in a world that thinks that BUSY is best. We live in a world that loves to brag that we are SO BUSY and SO TIRED from being BUSY.

A battle that makes the house sound as if it will most certainly cave in with the thunderous running and yelling to "Take COVER!"

What is it about cutting and gluing that is so satisfying?

Home made cookies, compliments of Gram. (Thanks Mom.)

Games. LOTS and LOTS of games.

Precious moments when I catch my girls holding hands while they watch television.


I have to breathe deeply and enjoy each moment. Doing NOTHING is such a rare pleasure.

Therapy does a world of good.

I have this great therapist. Ya know, therapists are hard to find and hard to keep. This guy is always available. No need to make an appointment. His techniques are not common place. He does not give feedback. He never tells me what to do. He never tells me I am wrong even in my worst offenses. He simply listens. He does NOT respect my personal space. More often than not he is over zealous to help me with my issues and probably MOST offensive is that he is known to lick me AND try to SIT in my lap! Highly inappropriate in therapy-world let me tell you! One thing I can be sure of is I always walk away from my sessions feeling better. Oh, the problems are certainly not gone but I will most. certainly. feel. better!













Did I mention that therapy can be VERY expensive but this therapist only requires a bit of kibble daily and maybe a treat or two?

THIS is what most of our area is doing today. The news was "over the top" with embellished stories of HORROR at THIS winter storm and what it COULD bring with it. Grocery stores were mobbed with people trying to stock up on supplies. Of course the news showed the rude and nasty shoppers at their best. I love the snow but NEVER ice with the threat of people losing electricity and all the problems that come with no power in winter. The kids are THRILLED to have another unplanned day off school and are enjoying each and every minute.

What's the weather like in your part of the world?