Wonders of Creation

Wednesday Wonders of Creation, a place for me to wax poetic about people who amaze me, influence and impress me, who have made an impact on my life in profound ways.

Today, since it's my darling daughter Skye's "birthday month" as she puts it, I'm going to start with her. On March 3, she turned 21 which seems to have happened in the blink of an eye. Really, she's all grown up?

 The day I went into labor, it started raining softly, as the day progressed and my labor pains grew, the weather also kept pace. By the time we made our way to the midwives, it had become one seriously stormy night, complete with thunder, lightening and raging gusts of wind that rattled the windows of the old Victorian house that had been turned into a birthing center. It was the kind of storm that would make a Bronte novel proud. I've always called her my little weather witch, because as soon as she came into this world, the winds calmed, the rain stopped and the sun came out blissfully. By the time we drove home with her that morning it had turned into the most beautiful Spring day, with blue skies to break your heart.

Controlling the winds!

This is how she describes herself on her blog:
"Once upon a time, a girl named Skye was born from stardust. She always knew she was kinda quirky. She loves the color pink, anything that sparkles, and pretending to be grown up. Skye tries to see the positive in everything. She adores baking cupcakes. She aspires to be a travel show host, a famous writer, a Princess, the best girlfriend ever, and an icon."

May her dreams and aspirations all come true, with blessings she hasn't even dreamed up yet! She inspires me on a regular basis, and I'm in awe of her brilliant quirky mind. Her sassiness and foot stomping are to be admired as strength of her spirit. To say she's a beauty wouldn't be to brag overmuch, she is. She touches the life of everyone she ever comes into contact with, making their day just a bit happier, sparklier, and magical. She's been a gift to my life that goes beyond words. I consider her, and her sweet brother Cory, to be my life's greatest achievements!

I usually find a song for her and post the lyrics for her birthday. This year it's an old favorite from Natalie Merchant, which thanks to Skye is inspiring my Wednesday theme. From the minute I heard this song, it reminded me of Skye, myself and the women in my family. We all seem capable of throwing people off balance, confounding and astounding. We're all a wonder!

Wonder

Doctors have come from distant cities
Just to see me
Stand over my bed
Disbelieving what they're seeing

They say I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as they can see they can offer
No explanation

Newspapers ask intimate questions
Want confessions
They reach into my head
To steal the glory of my story

They say I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as they can see they can offer
No explanation

O, I believe
Fate smiled and Destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle
Know this child will be able
Laughed as my body she lifted
Know this child will be gifted
With love, with patience and with faith
She'll make her way

People see me
I'm a challenge to your balance
I'm over your heads
How I confound you and astound you
To know I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as you can see you can offer me
No explanation

O, I believe
Fate smiled and Destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle
Know this child will be able
Laughed as she came to my mother
Know this child will not suffer
Laughed as my body she lifted
Know this child will be gifted
With love, with patience and with faith
She'll make her way

So you can see I'm not fibbing about her brilliance, go check out her blog!
Oh My Skye!

Simple Bliss Sundays

Another new theme day! Simple Bliss Sundays, because Sundays are always a day that I like to stay home, relax, cook delicious things, pamper myself and soothe my soul.

Whatever I'm doing, I've become completely hooked on watching Oprah's Super Soul Sunday a completely mind blowing, heart opening series of some of the wisest, thought provoking people on the planet.

Today we started out with a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon and english muffins with marmalade. Then I moved on to putting a pot of black eyes peas on to simmer for dinner later. Chopping all the veggies, and then sauteeing them with bacon and ham absolutely equals bliss!

I'm a latecomer to cooking black eyes peas, only making my first batch this past New Years day. Honestly, I used to HATE them. I thought they were stinky and one of the nastiest things ever. Memire (my darling Grandmother) used to try and make me eat them, yet even for her I wouldn't do it. Then John got me to taste some a few months ago. They were....okay, sorta. Tolerable, but I knew I could probably make them more to my liking if I made my own. So on New Years day I decided to be traditional and give it a shot. They were heavenly, done my way, and so now they're on a regular rotation for our dinner menu. We just serve them up over steamed rice, maybe with corn bread as a side. Now to wait for these little yummies to be finished!

My next plan for the day is a long hot shower. My sinuses have been giving me pure hell for more than a month now. I've done the double round of antibiotics, and everything else known to humankind, yet they are still making my head ache like there are little dwarves tunneling in my skull with jackhammers. Hot showers, herbs or spices steaming on the stove, using my neti pot, and taking tons of mucinex seem the only things that make a difference for a short time.

To make my afternoon shower more relaxing and pampering, I made a citrus sugar body scrub. I adore making sugar scrubs of all kinds. If I'm in a pinch for time and just need some quick exfoliating I'll just grab a couple spoonfuls of table sugar, dampen it between my palms and use it as is.

When I do have more time, I grab a bowl, add sugar, a few drops of vegetable oil ( I like olive, almond, canola or coconut oils) then I add in whatever strikes my fancy. I've used everything from a dash of chai spice blend, (great with brown sugar) to ginger, various essential oils like rose, jasmine, chammomile, or peppermint, to citrus like today. It's pretty much anything goes depending on what scents you like.             

Here's todays recipe if you'd like to try making your own.

Zest of one orange and one tangerine

About five tablespoons sugar

a few drops of olive oil.

Blend together until you have a light crumbly mixture.

Take a shower as normal, then right before you get out use the scrub all over. With citrus, I would not use it on my face or other delicate spots. Use your common sense, some things shouldn't go near your eyes. If you've zested the citrus finely it should wash right down the drain, so you don't have to worry about clogs.

May your Sunday also be filled with blissful moments dear sugarpeas!

Moonlit Mondays

Since I decided to start writing again on this sorely neglected blog I thought it would be fun to have a few days a week with a topic. Mondays have been deemed Moonlit, and are for romance, love and sensual pursuits. A sweet way to make an otherwise unloved day of the week into something to look forward to!

Tonight I'll keep it short, with just a suggestion to visit a blog I discovered through Pinterest, which by the way, if you haven't gone over to the dark side of Pinterest I have to ask, WHY not?? How could you resist delightful things like this that pop onto your computer screen randomly like magic?

This lovely recipe for the above pictured limoncello tiramisu led me to the very cool website, The Love Bite which is crammed full of recipes that look drool worthy and neato ideas for dates. I can't wait to try some out and explore more of the love!

Share the love sugarpeas!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ~art by Bella Pilar

What's the story Morning Glory?

So what is the story? Where on Earth have I been? Why haven't I written anything in ages? Very good questions to ask, even to myself. I'm not really so sure, though I can peg blame on a few of the usual suspects.

For the most part I can blame it on not having enough time, which would be very true. Last year went zipping by so fast I think I still have whiplash from it all. We got notice last year that we were moving, again! John was tagged to be a recruiter, so he went off to school for a few months in the spring and early summer while Skye and I went into chaos mode. Then over the summer we accomplished the move from Fort Benning, Georgia, to out on Long Island New York.

If you've ever done a move with the military, you know that even a short distance move becomes a three ring circus. Things go wrong or crop up that no sane person would ever imagine. We 've been living in East Meadow since the beginning August and like any move we've ever made it always takes at least the first six months to get the house in some semblance of order again.

From chaos......

...to calm!

While John was off at school Skye and I were busy bees working on the flowers and decorations for Sam and Kailins wedding, our darling Memire passed away. So we had her memorial right before the wedding and it still seems like a blur to me. In the midst of it all Skye was also trying to get herself set for a move to go to school in Jacksonville, while I got the house and our lives ready for New York. That there was a slight bit of craziness doesn't quite cover it.

Our Memire, Katy Ruth Moody Perron

Add into all that my normal health issue of fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue blah-de-blah, dealing with severe anemia the past few years which is still unresolved, it's a wonder I got anything done at all.



My hibernating cohorts, Remy and Charlotte.

There are days where getting the most mundane things done becomes like trying to climb Mount Everest. Do the dishes, fall back to bed for an hour. Cook dinner, rest an hour before cleaning up. Run errands for an afternoon, rest most of the next day. I don't say that for a pitty party, just to put into perspective how my body is most of the time. Sometimes I even have to do a full on hibernation. Those who know me best know when I say I'm going "down the rabbit hole" to hide and rest, to be patient. I'll emerge eventually! Sometimes just after an hour nap, sometimes after a month or so of staying home and curling up into myself while almost completely ignoring the outside world.

 I was glad to see this suggested in another blog I was reading this morning, 10-Things-to-Remind-Yourself-on-a-Daily-Basis  "2. It is okay to be alone or pull back from the world. Sometimes we just need to step back and re-evaluate a situation, a relationship, or just life in general. When I went through my healing period, I spent a lot of time alone as I tried to become my own best friend again. If you need to go into hiding for awhile and work on stitching yourself back up, take the time to do that. It is so important to pull back and spend quality time with yourself every now and then."

One day soon I'll do a more in depth post on living with a chronic illness, but suffice it to say that it's no picnic to have to be familiar with the issue through myself, my sister who has lupus, and my grandmother who also had fibromyalgia. I'm lucky and blessed that I can still function, I have use of all my body despite it all, I don't have anything fatal, yet I do function on a much lower energy level than your average bear. I also deal with plenty of pain constantly. One of the best websites I've found for helping maintain a decent perspective and being gentle with myself is Little and Often . Michael Nobbs is brilliant! How could you not love someone who suggests tea and cake on a regular basis?

Now that we've covered two good reasons for not writing, what else can I find to explain the neglect of this lovely little home I have on the interwebs? Laziness? Not really. Fear of not having anything to say? A blank mind? That's kinda rare in our family to ever admit to. We're all big mouths and if you can catch us without an opinion or something to talk about you better check for a pulse!

I will say that wondering if anyone would even care about my mundane ramblings occurs to me and has stayed my hand from the keyboard on occasion. Then I tell myself that we all end up having something in common even if it is trivial or mundane. Usually that is exactly where our commonalities are!

So with that in mind, stay in touch darling friends and family! For as Lord Byron said "If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad."

LOST, in paradise!

I'm about to watch the second to last episode of Lost tonight and I'm feeling terribly nostalgic for Hawaii. The memories of my favorite place on the planet and my favorite tv show of all time will forever be entangled. Knowing the show was filmed on Oahu gave me incentive to explore places I might not have found on my own, like the beautiful beach above where the Losties have their beach camp.

I used to like going there when I knew they weren't filming, thinking it was my own little private piece of heaven. Sometimes I even shared it with family!

We got so lucky one Sunday afternoon. There were turtles all over, laying in the sun, and playing in the waves.

 

I'm sure I have lots more pictures buried somewhere on my external hard drive. I'll have to post more when I dig them up. For now, it's off to get comfy in my favorite chair, TV on, snacks ready!

Listening for something deeper within.

As I sit sipping coffee under the shade of our little curtained pavillion in the backyard, I've been trying to decide just what to do today. My to do list has gone off the deep end, right off the pages of my planner with more to do than I want to think about. Just for today, I want to listen to what my body says. I want to shut out the noise and chatter of what I should be doing, and just flow with what would truly give my body the rest it needs after the stress of the past few weeks.

So what are some good ideas? I'm going to ponder these from Jennifer Louden's blog. As always she is inspirational, and has just the right thoughts at the time I need them most. http://www.comfortqueen.com/choose-your-life-mondays-kinds-of-renewal/comment-page-1#comment-4914

Oh, and I owe a few gratitudes since I was so busy with family over the weekend, and was so wiped out yesterday when they left that all I could do is sleep. I think the current tally owed is four, I'll add an extra for today and call it even!

~Sweet puppydogs playing in the grass, chasing butterflies and dozing in the sunshine.
~Fresh hot hazelnut coffee in one of my favorite mugs with the quote "Worrying does not empty tomorrow of it's troubles. It empties today of it's Strength."
~For the technology that lets me communicate with John over such long distances. Thank you for Instant Messages!
~For the cool spring breeze that I know will be gone in a few hours. I think we're supposed to hit 90 again today????
~Knowing to trust myelf, for the lessons learned over many years proving that my heart (and gut) don't steer me wrong.

Until tomorrow...
Have a delightful day whevere you are!

Better late than never!

Quick and easy thing to be grateful for today. Family! Which would be why I almost forgot to post my gratitude today. My Mom, Sis, Brother in Law, and two Nieces came up today for a weekend visit. It's been chaos and shenanigans, but tons of fun as always!

Also, John finally made it to where he's supposed to be in Iraq. Now maybe he can get settled, get internet set up, and we can fall into those odd, but normal deployment routines.

I may get a beatin' for posting this picture, but I can't resist. I love my April Fool and miss him terribly!