Smiling Through
- On: 01/06/2009 06:58:36
- Comments: 2
As I read your beautiful comments in the last post about 2009, I was full of hope. What incredible, uplifting, inspiring Farmgirls you all are.
(I’ll post winners later today. Cut-off for entering is noon.)( Time zone? Hmm, hadn’t thought about that. How about when noon arrives in California.)
It is particularly refreshing to read your positive comments during these times that are so challenging. It seems I hear gloom and doom everywhere I turn. Well, not here, folks!
You may think I’m “simple-minded,” but I’ve heard enough of the gloom and doom. I’ve been hitting the “off” button. There is so much good, so much kindness, and so much hope out there. You just have to look a little harder for it.
If you didn’t take the time to read the comments, do. There you’ll find hope and joy.
When I have thought about Farmgirls in the past, I’ve always thought about getting it done. (Whatever it is to each individual.) Finding the courage and doing it. I know now that it’s not only getting it done, but getting it done with a smile, with hope, and with generosity. I believe an important part of what each of you is bringing to your children and your families and your communities and your world is hope.
Frosty Windows and A Give-Away-WINNERS
- On: 01/02/2009 07:50:33
- Comments: 77
And the winners of the MaryJanesFarm Calendars are:
Happy As A Clam
- On: 12/29/2008 04:13:54
- Comments: 9
(warning: chipper post)
Christmas found me “happy as a clam at high tide.”
(further warning, just in case you don't know by now: I'm one of those people who adores the Christmas season...)
I know it's not about the gifts, but I just have to tell you. I received some very special gifts this year. They are special gifts that didn't come from a store.
Oh, the Seven Fishes Feast? Hmmm, well….
To tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I cheated.
Christmas to Me
- On: 12/23/2008 06:55:19
- Comments: 8
Well, let me just go ahead and thank the Statler Brothers for the title and theme of this post. I "stole" it from them.
They have an old Christmas song I heard the other day on the radio, Christmas to Me. I don't recall the words and a search on the Internet didn't provide them to me, but it was a sweet song about family and cedar trees and popcorn garland. Hearing that song made me stop what I was doing and listen. It made me think about the sweet, special, simple things about Christmas that don't cost a lot of money.
Christmas to me?
Making cookies. Drinking eggnog. Christmas music. Wrapping presents. Being with family.
Yesterday we made Gingerbread Cookies as we drank eggnog and listened to Christmas music.
Mall-less Christmas
- On: 12/18/2008 12:48:05
- Comments: 10
Well, I said it a month or so ago, “This Christmas we won’t go to the mall.” My seven-year old daughter was rather devastated by my announcement. But it isn’t the lack of shopping at the mall that devastated her. It is the lack of experiencing the Christmas-y “atmosphere” of the mall.
And, she’s right. The gaudy decorations, the music blasting out of the loud speakers, the peppy crowds, the craziness, the driving around forever looking for a parking space, the frantic and frenzy, the long lines. And yes, the man in the red suit. It's the overall Christmas hustle and bustle.
I've come to realize that there is more to the mall than just the “stuff” you can buy there. And yes, I am beginning to miss it. It might not be a mall-less Christmas for us afterall.
Although the red-suited guy hasn’t been a problem. We’ve seen announcement after announcement in the newspaper for Santa. He’s here and there and everywhere this year. No need to hit the mall for that.
When I was young, we never went to the mall to see Santa. He visited our very own Five-and-Dime store in our little downtown. (Oh, how I loved that Five-and-Dime. It was a McCrory’s.)
No Sweat
- On: 12/16/2008 06:32:48
- Comments: 6
Perhaps I have mentioned it before: I am a procrastinator. I work best under pressure. Christmas is no exception. I have spent my adulthood running around at the last minute on Christmas Eve day. It has never bothered me.
I was talking to a friend the other day who was freaking out because she still had a few gifts to buy. I tried to reassure her by telling her that she was doing well, that I had just begun my shopping.
It didn’t reassure her; it made her freak out for me. I thought she would hyperventilate on my behalf.
“I’m fine…I always get it done at the last minute,” I told her, “I enjoy it that way. No sweat. It's all good.”
Fishes-Dishes and Clover
- On: 12/12/2008 08:54:38
- Comments: 11
Even if I didn't have a calendar, I'd know it was "getting on towards" Christmas by now. This plant alerts me each year when it is Christmas time.
And, guess what? The torch has been passed to me. This year I will be hosting my husband’s family Christmas Eve dinner. As you may know by now, I am southern, 100%. Husband is also 100% southern. But he’s southern Italian.
Gumballs
- On: 12/09/2008 08:33:25
- Comments: 2
Second grade is fun. I am enjoying it big time. Like a lot of other things, it is better the second time around.
That’s one of the cool things about having a child. A cool, unanticipated, surprise thing about being a parent. I get to re-live my childhood over again. Except this time, I’m in charge. I get to do what I want to do. The way I want to do it. Cool.
Reminds me of the time I was having lunch with a fellow lawyer. As we entered the restaurant, he stopped at the gum ball machine. He dropped a quarter in and cranked the knob until a big ball of bubble gum dropped down. Before he popped the big ball into his mouth he said, “I think this is the best part about being an adult,” he said, “I can stop at every gum ball machine if I want to.” At the time I thought it was a funny take on being an adult. Gum balls.
But it’s kind of like that having a child. And I do like gum balls. I do. Grape Rain-Blo is my favorite. (But they sure do stick to that crown I now have...)
It's Risky to Whisper
- On: 12/04/2008 06:48:10
- Comments: 11
Over to the right there, under my “mug,” you will find a link to send me an email. Do that. Send me an email. That is far better than using the “whisper” comment feature. Here’s why. If you send me an email, I can send you a reply. If you “whisper” the comment (that’s where only I see it) well, I can’t talk back to you. I'm not even sure that feature fully functions. And believe me, I love to read your comments and I’d answer your questions, but I can’t if you "whisper." There’s not a feature for me to reply back. So send me an email instead, won't ya? (Anybody remember the Seinfeld episode when he dates the "soft talker"?)
In one of those much cherished comments that was whispered, a fellow Farmgirl sent me these words she is attempting to live by: “Risk more than others think is safe, care more than others think is wise, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible.”
What a great motto. I find that words spoken (or written) to me are often exactly what I need to hear. Those particular words were just that.
I love you Mr. Turkey
- On: 12/01/2008 07:22:51
- Comments: 5
We came; we feasted; we spent the night; we feasted some more; we left.
Empty handed.
We headed home from our Thanksgiving Day Festivities “sans.”
No turkey leftovers.
Not that my mom didn’t insist. She had it wrapped up and ready to go. But. The car was too full of all the things that HAD to go back to my house. People and clothes and dogs and stuffed animals and coats and everything else. There was no room for a cooler. So we beeped the horn and drove away “sans.”
Sans turkey.
The worst part about the no turkey leftovers thing was that when we finally made it home Friday evening, we were starved. And we had NO leftovers to heat up. NO turkey for a big, fat turkey sandwich.
We ate frozen pizza. And a bowl of shredded wheat cereal.
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