Don Quixote

...the day before the big snowstorm, Lewis Bay certainly exemplified the calm before the storm, the ocean was like glass, perfectly still (except when Lucy went for splashing, crazy, wild romps through it!), amazingly calm. And then the snow came, and it returned to normal, covered with snow, but normal! Returning home, there was this large snowball at the end of someone's driveway where it had been plowed. Lucy stopped about 100 yards from it and started barking ferociously (well, as ferocious as a black lab gets!), I couldn't get her anyway near it, she was barking like mad. All I could think of was Don Quixote & the windmills, "en garde big ball of snow..."

beauty

sometimes the beauty that is all around me everyday takes my breath away...

Today I was walking Lucy along the beach, it was foggy and cool (and I didn't have my camera!). There was a six or seven foot strip of beach from the edge of the sea that was absolutely flat & smooth. There were no stones or shells or normal beach things, the sand was like an empty journal page waiting to be written on. It ended at this gorgeous marbelized strip of sand, tans & grays & blacks marbelized by the waves & sea... It was so peaceful and beautiful.

When I went back, merely an hour later, the tide had come in, the smooth path I had followed earlier was taken back by the sea, the sun broke free through the fog, and I was reminded how quickly it all can change...

Happy Birthday Ray, we love you & wish you peace & happiness for today and through-out the year... xxx

the Nutcracker...

The play was fabulous, congrats to all the kids! Now it's time for the Nutcracker, there are many to choose from... Try Reaching Heart's Nutcracker at CCCC, this weekend, Dec. 15th & 16th !

The photographer in me always wanted Adriana to be a ballerina, it was all about the cute costumes... but, she had no interest in it sadly... I think she's been bitten by the acting bug though, after the first night of 'Best Christmas Pageant Ever', she begged to be in another play, wants to take acting lessons, etc... I think her favorite part was on Sunday, when one of the fireman scooped her up, fireman style (throwing her over his shoulder), and ran across the stage with her in an impromptu bit of improvisation...

who knows where it will lead...

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

This weekend don't miss 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever' based on the book by Barbara Robinson at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Old Main Street, So. Yarmouth. The Herdman's, the worst kids in the history of the world, take over the annual Christmas pageant at the church, bullying their way into all the best roles... You'll laugh out loud, and cheer for the cast comprised mainly of children, who bring the play to life...

Mom: okay children you're supposed to have on your costumes today, are these your costumes? Is this what you're going to wear?

Baby Angel 1: my wings got all bent.

Baby Angel 2: I can't find my halo.

Baby Angel 1: Janet's got my robe.

Baby Angel 2: My mom doesn't have any white sheets for me to wear, can I wear one with balloons on it?

Friday 12/7 and Saturday 12/8 at 7:30pm, Sunday 12/9 at 2:30pm

Tickets $12 adults/$10 children & seniors

gifts that give back

(photo from Oxfam's site)

As you're preparing for the holidays and buying gifts for everyone, I wanted to share one of my favorite gifts I received last year. My dear friends, Mouse & Dave, bought us the gift of planted trees. They may have been fruit or avocado trees, or trees that provided shade for coffee plantations, or maybe they were planted to stop erosion...

There are many wonderful organizations that offer gifts that give back, I wanted to share some sites you can purchase these gifts. Oxfam offers items like school uniforms & desks, planted trees, and shares in a fair trade coffee cooperative. At the Heifer Project you can buy a heifer, or a goat, a flock of chicks, or honeybees to help a family support themselves. (There's a fabulous book you should share with your children, Beatrice's Goat by Page McBrier and Lori Lohstoeter, about a poor Ugandan girl who's able to go to school because of receiving a goat from the Heifer project. Prior to having the goat, they couldn't afford the school uniform, and she wasn't able to attend school without one! It's a beautiful story that shows you what a big difference these gifts make.) There's also Seva Foundation which provides gifts of service, the gift of sight, or medical care...

These are wonderful gifts for the person you don't know what to get, or the person who has everything, because they share with those who have nothing, what better gift could there be?

one more...

tonight at dinner, I came up with a better elementary school story, in the 3rd grade we played "Muskrat Love"* in our recorder recital, I even had a solo! (*it was the 70's...)

8 things you may not know about me...

Although I just shared a few things, my friend Tom 'tagged' a bunch of us to share 8 things you may not know... so here's a few more for you!
1. I LOVE musicals, The Sound of Music, Evita, West Side Story, Guys & Dolls...
2. I spent my summers at Camp Maria Pratt GS camp, my Indian name was "Sparkling Smile" - I like to think it wasn't all about the braces...
3. I've got 99 Red Balloons & Safety Dance on my i Pod.
4. My first job was selling cameras in the photo dept. at Caldors, I also had a brief stint as a draftsperson for my step-father.
5. In the 1st grade concert, my best friend, Suzanne, had a solo singing "Sunshine on my
Shoulders", she got nervous & starting crying, so I went up on stage and put my arm around her to give her the strength to sing her song... Needless to say then everyone else had tears in their eyes!
6. I came to America on the Queen Elizabeth 1, a 5 day journey with my mum & my sister... It was the farewell year of the QE, sailing from Southampton to NY, and the first time I slept through the night (I was 5 mos. old!)
7. One of the first things I did in Paris was visit Jim Morrison's grave.
8. I got engaged to Ray under palm trees & moonlight in Puerto Rico.