Magic in my Purse

Summer plans, anyone? Who is travelin' where? Leave a comment if you know about any summer vacation plans... or if you plan to stay at home, what is your big summer "thing"? Love my little Zune and pink Razr phone... They are my magician's assistants if I need to wait on someone in the car.... A Zune is a little larger than an IPOD. It houses videos, music, photos, and more... I love mine, a gift from Mom and my son for Christmas....

Pilgrim, How You Journey.... the road that leads to "home"

Well, how different is this Memorial Day from recent ones... Annually since I was a little girl we have been pilgrims through the near-by cemetery where my family lies... and this year we visit one more heart-touching one, the small, quiet place where my father's grave must be. A new stone with carvings of a barn and his beloved telephone insulator wires sits at the head, and beautiful red and white flowers await our loving glances. I can see the churchyard if I look just right through the rain.... almost a mile away, but very close to his land. I know he wanted that. But this post isn't about sadness exactly. It isn't about loss... or about despair over losing someone of such strength and quiet steadiness... That post would be far too sad to read, to write, to even ponder on such a tentatively sunny morning as we are having..

This post is about home. Those of you who have come to know me have followed me from one house to this one.... And what a picture this is... right now the locusts are endeavoring to provide earthbound clouds of fragrance and beauty all around my new home. The part of my mother's home that shows in this picture is MINE... That whole room with the two front windows is mine... I have a delicious room that awaits transformation this summer. You see, I know I can talk my mother into anything I really need to do for this room to seem more mine... and I now have the time and the rest needed to make those decisions... When I was in school, racing home at 4 p.m. and having been up since 4 a.m. until nearly 1 every morning again... it isn't easy to make any decisions based on four hours of sleep and some catnaps.... But summer vacation is always a great time for rest and rejuvenation... Those three reasons to be a teacher (June, July, and August) are not truly good reasons because of the fact we don't have lessons to plan and kids to see... I love lessons and kids.... but the months off are good for our heads, and I so wish every profession offered that delicious luxury to its loyal devoted worker bees...

Home is a state of the heart. I know it, and we all know it... I can't say I don't miss my home, my cat, my stuff... my china and dark navy wallpaper... my Tiffany lamps and my beautiful aura that made me feel loved, autonomous, safe, and snugly... That would be lying to you lovely readers... and to myself. I miss it terribly. I miss the idea that I can pick up a magazine and get a great idea and move things around and spiff in the kitchen... you know.... putter.... But that "missing" has to be put somewhere and I have to get a grip on this life... however long I am here with Mother is actually going to be a season my life... this is home....

Remember when you were little and you traveled with your parents to far away motels... If you stayed more than one night, didn't you sometimes feel that little motel room was home? If I could do it then in Big Springs, in Denver, in Wichita.... I can surely do it in the homestead where I grew up.... The Serenity Prayer never held more power than it does for me in this situation... Accept the things I cannot change.... (living here, some of the "pinkness" and the frills, the floor plan.... the lack of solitude that I somehow crave and she doesn't)... the power to change the things I can (comfortable bed, bringing over books, wall hangings, lamps, comforts of home.... establishing self care rituals and sharing gestures that make this room my haven of hospitality to my friends and family rather than an initial dumping ground for coats and boots when people stop by here....)... and the wisdom to know the difference... (Oh, girl, get wisdom.... and there maybe (respectfully submitted) should be even one more line to that prayer: the good sense to shut up about it!....???????????? Begging the pardon of St. Francis.... but then I didn't ever hear he lived with his mother, did you?????

Again, have a good Memorial Day with your family and friends...

Finally! The picture is ready.

I have enjoyed reading all your comments and can hardly wait to pick the winner... I will pack all this up and speed it to yo u after the drawing next weekend. Have a really fun Memorial Day. All comments from the first announcement through the date of the drawing will be entered, and if you have commented on two posts, you will probably be entered twice! Wheee!

Two Teddies alone...

Wow... I didn't get in to the serving table, and suddenly only these two Teddies remained of the 50 I tossed into the serving bowl with the other Golden Graham Teds... That along with fruit dip and strawberries and grapes were my contribution. The little boy at the party loved the Teddies... I also am trying to nail down recipes for a Butterfinger cake and a candy bar fluff that were so yummy... Here are my two last Teddies kicking back au naturel on a little "beachie" towel and bobbing away safe in the harbor with their life savers. I saw several cakes online with blue jello pools and fruit rollup towels and bunches of sunbathing teddies... so cute...

Cottage Charm Giveaway!

Give me a day to get my stuff grouped... but I want to participate in the Cottage Charm Giveaway... I'm sure it will be fun and charm-y.... I have to thnk a bit, go to my shop, and take a picture. If you wish to participate in the drawing, just leave a post on this or any blog from today on to the 31st of May... If you leave a message on more than one entry, you'll be entered more than once...one per post..... Have a beautiful weekend.... sunshine and warm breezes... Can it get any prettier?


UPDATE-- Monday, May 20th
Well, boo to me.. I haven't taken that shot of the prizes yet, so I'll just list them without the photo for now and get the ball rolling. 1. A Scrumptious candle from Shady Peanut Lane,probably in a Vanilla Bun scent... It looks like a giant cinnamon roll, and it's a Muffin Gem... you will love it... Next, a tin of tea from "My Cup of Tea" which is a shop next door... Not sure which flavor, but you will love the little tagalong tin of silk tea bags, too... Next a few notes and some little candles and bath baubles, a vintagey tea towel with a big yellow tulip and rickrack.... and a few odds and ends to round out the prize... A Perfect Potful pack of gourmet coffee..... It will be fun to win... and even "funner" to take a picture of when I get to the shop go buy the tea and get the candle..... I can't believe how hectic the end of school always is... Book orders, grades, inventory, cleaning and stashing of the room... (a crazy lady does that every year, and then in August I wonder who she was... but I know it is the same woman who used to stash my holiday stuff.) Then today I'm actually done with all that but required to be here in my little bare kinda scary room until the picnic at 1:30 at the Coach's house... My dish for the picnic is rather cute... I bought fruit, made a cranberry/pecan fruit dip, and then have little Teddy Grahams... I took gummy lifesavers and made little swimmers out of the Teddy Grahams... so cute. I have my camera but not my cord, but I'll try to include a picture of that later, too.... My room is a mess; my life isn't the best right now; and I just had the most inordinately joyful nirvana experience stuffing those little bears down into those gummy lifesavers... Hmmm.... that is rather scary, don't you think?

Shady Peanut Lane

Here we are... new paint, new ramp, new merchandise... same old sadsack shopkeeper though! hahah.... Only three more days of school... then here I come, little shop.

Youth in Action.... Shady Peanut Lane Transformed

Yesterday was Community Betterment Day. Our students hit the streets for three hours to do good deeds. Some pulled weeds for Senior Citizens, others painted the Post Office. One group watersealed trash receptacles, while the other group sealed park benches. A few classes split up and walked the city streets and old highway to collect trash. The Junior Class scraped, painted and trimmed my shop... Yep... in two hours the lion's share of the work was finished from first scrape to touch-up. Tomorrow's blog will feature a new close up of the shop... It is wonderful.

Senior Good-bye

Whew! It is so nearly here! I decided to treat my seniors today since it's officially their last day in my morning classes. What would you tell yourselves if you could send a little memo to the senior you once were? My kids are so grown up, yet such little children... They got to keep the memories sign and a gift certificate to Mickey D's.

I didn't have my fine feathers on this morning... no tablecloth or candles.... but kinda slid in home by the skin of my teeth, stopping at the store on the way to school and nabbing a sophomore or two to help me carry in my loot.
I think I'd tell myself, that where did she go?-girl from 1972's graduating class, that probably storms will come (and they have a little, or course)... The skies will puff up and look pretty threatening...

That's when to think of the happy memories.....

Remember when you were there together with your friends before the "day" started.... Snoozing around?

Sometimes I know I had my Head under my wing just oblivious to the future.... And often I revert to that pose still.... These geese were sleeping this weekend when I went to feed them a cinnamon roll, so they missed a golden opportunity.
I would tell the young me to opt for a nice pair of shades to filter out the harmful glaring truths...
Here are my top ten advice tips to the senior me:

1. Say what you mean to people. Be kind hearted always, but be truthful about how you feel. If you love them, tell them that you love them. If they've hurt your feelings, let them know it. Don't swallow it all and get bitter and petty.... (who me?)

2. Be smart with money. Credit cards are from the devil. Enough said.

3. Walk, move, and stay healthy.

4. Build a house with an attached garage and a door opener.

5. Always thank everyone for everything. Never assume anybody feels the love without your saying it.

6. Sit on decisions for a long time. Impulsive choices might seem amazing and fab, but they often are just dumb choices you have to live with or without forever. But then, don't sit and stew just too long... and oh, yeah... the thinking time is better spent privately..... keep some of your thoughts to yourself.

7. Read, watch, and speak uplifting material. Concentrate on the good and DON'T BURN BRIDGES..... I have had to crawl back over so many bridges in my life. I'm so grateful they weren't in cinders.

8. Celebrate with your friends and family... all the things that make a season, a year, a lifetime. Own your joy and your sorrow. It is what makes you real.

9. Search continually for a higher, better, happier, prettier moment.... and at the same time be content in the now.

10. Always leave a little mystery. That is why I am NEVER gonna tell you guys what number 10 is.... Wouldn't you love to know?

For sale.... at auction......

The midnight sky in spring holds some kind of power over some of us... It may be the cut of the stars glittering through the navy cloak...dusky, colorless clouds skittering by as if they think they are getting away with something... or the leaves left by winter's dark deep-freeze suddenly scudding by the windows, catching the light... Missouri winds have been fierce this week, banging at the doors to be let inside... and so my spirit has been swept, and I am moody, tired, sleepy and thoughtful.

And I'm thinking about all the "stuff" my mother and I have accumulated. While she is still (at 83) in the "better save this for 'company' or later" mode, I am in the "Time is so short; we need to enjoy whatever we have." mind-set... I recall the stacks of freshly laundered linens at my grandmother's sale... Mother insisted we wash every dish until it sparkled and iron every item we sold. ... Some of my grandmother's pretty things were visible to me only on that day we sold them. I had the opportunity to take whatever I wanted, and I did take so very much that my home is bursting at the seams... Simplify, the signs scream it at us these days.

I want to simplify somehow, to concentrate, to live a beautiful life and use up my stuff before I die. I don't want my red beverage jar used for the first time by whoever buys it at my auction, no matter when that date shall be. For all this stuff will be eventually sold or broken or done away with. I see no need for scrimping and doing without when the treasure lies inside my very own cupboards... I believe we were raised on too many ants and grasshopper stories, listened to the depression scares too much. If we have another Great Depression, instead of so many grand individual depressions inside our own psyches... we won't be yearning for the packed away doilies and good china. We will be aching for food supplies and gas ration cards anyway.

The time is two a.m. Tomorrow will be another day at school, another day here at Mom's, another opportunity to seize the day... Carpe Diem....

Have a good week.

One Magical Night.... Prom '08

Obviously a Hollywood theme.. Isn't this lovely? Tons of work by the kids and some very dedicated teachers and sponsors. The young people looked fabulous in their beautiful clothes... It was just something out of a movie..... Have a look at the Junior Senior Prom at our school. They held the event in an old Oddfellows Lodge that is now being fixed up for a town hall. I didn't attend exactly, but some friends and I gathered in my shop across the street from Prom to have a little pizza party. The weather was really chilly, and the mood so festive.. Sigh! It looked fun to be young again!