Thoughts from Alison that might at least entertain you!

A Whole New Year

And so it's almost next year!  I find myself reflecting on the past year, and realizing that I probably can't remember even half of it. 

In the last year:  We learned that our cat Tori is diabetic (almost a full year ago), and learned to manage her health.  She is happy and well, and the best patient we could ask for.  I survived my first Ann Arbor Folk Festival weekend (The Ark's major annual fund raiser, with roughly 500 Volunteer roles to staff over 2 days).  We bought Prune Ridge (our first purchased home - nearly a 3 month process in the current paralyzed financial world) and moved in April. Masterworks Chorale performed two monumental concerts - completely different programs with only 5 weeks between them.  We celebrated countless events, occasions, and accomplishments with our families.  I finally made it to the Ann Arbor art fairs.  I took pottery classes!  We found a wonderful pet sitter who does insulin shots, and managed to go away overnight a couple of times.  We went to my (very small) 15 year reunion at Capital.  I have so far survived the installation, programming, training, and launching of a new cash register system at our club - no small feat when the staff are Volunteers.  I had 2 annual days of fun with mom, Ginny, and Lynn at Birch Run.  And last, but not least - in the last 2 weeks I've gotten onto Facebook and reconnected with dozens of old, lost friends!

In the next year?  Who knows!  I hope for continued settling into our home, continuing health for our family and selves, continuing creative outlets and passions.  We will welcome a new president in our country, and I hope for monumental change that works to fix some of the challenges that can only destroy human spirit if they continue.  I hope for health, growth, and beautiful moments of joy in the lives of all the people I love, and all the people I don't yet know.  And yes, I probably also hope a little bit for a dog to join our family at Prune Ridge.  Most of all, I wish for the love and partnership I share with John to offer itself to the rest of the world too.  It makes me feel like pretty much anything is possible, and we all need some of that.

Happy, Happy, Happy New Year Friends!  Be Well and Be Taking Care and Sometimes Just Be.

(P.S.  Anyone who knows me - whether old friend or new - knows that I'm a bit of a screwball.  It won't surprise you to know that the title of this post is firmly rooted in my brain as a song - sung to the tune of "A Whole New World" from The Little Mermaid.  I'm going to need the magic song-stuck-in-head-eraser of "The Girl From Ipanema" to get this one out of my head.)

How long is too long?

To leave the Christmas Tree up and decorated, that is.  Opinions?  I love the lights - that's the truth of what I love about holiday decor.  I like having that nice glow when the house is mostly dark and the day is winding down.  Perhaps I should put up some other light strand things to leave up all year?

There was a year, when I was on the road for almost the entire holiday season.  I put my tree up in early October, and didn't take it down until March!  I promise not to leave it up until March this year.  Uhh, I mean next year!

Happy evening of light and simplicity, Friends.  Be Well!

Meow

Good morning Friends!  It seems I've been a bit absent from blogging in the last several days.  Honestly, my only excuse is that I'm moderately obsessed with finishing the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book I've been working on!  Oh yeah - and it's the holidays, my work schedule has still been silly, and I'm exhausted!  Otherwise, no excuses.

Any other cat owners (or former cat owners) out there:  Why do cats (our Maggie B, in particular) do that strange yowling meow on occasion?  Maggie does it several times a day, usually when she's by herself.  Not when she's been "abandoned" by us - she typically goes off somewhere on her own, and then she's yowling.  She's a strange one as it is but this is still weird to me!

Maybe when/if we get a dog she'll behave normally?!?  Yeah, probably not.

IKEA: Fun store, Funny commercial

Longer Eyelashes?

I think I just had an aural hallucination.  A new drug that promises longer eyelashes?  I have to watch the evening news if I want to hear more.  What's wrong with the world?

Merry Winter and Happy Day!

Good Evening, All!  Tonight I wish for all the best in this world of ours.  More peace and many reasons for laughter would be a beautiful start.  Better care of the resources we have would be a good added layer.  Thoughts and actions on how to prepare/preserve our world for children (now and still to come) could go so far!  This holiday celebrating birth and hope has many possible interpretations.  For me, it is summed up nicely in this text from Sophia Lyon Fahs (a Unitarian minister), which I'm sure I have shared here before:

 

For so the children come
And so they have been coming.
Always in the same way they come
    born of the seed of man and woman.

No angels herald their beginnings.
No prophets predict their future courses.
No wisemen see a star to show where to find the babe
    that will save humankind.

Yet each night a child is born is a holy night,
Fathers and mothers--
    sitting beside their children's cribs
    feel glory in the sight of a new life beginning.

They ask, "Where and how will this new life end?
Or will it ever end?"

Each night a child is born is a holy night--
A time for singing,
A time for wondering,
A time for worshipping.

 

Truly - Wishing you All the beauty of this season, peace that settles the soul, and plenty of the things that feed you.  Merry Christmas, Friends!

Christmas Eve Day Updates

Hello Friends!

I'm wrapping up (literally) some bits and pieces of Christmas on this grey and rainy Michigan day.  I thought that I had foiled Maggie B's annual Christmas tradition.  Maggie is especially fond of curling ribbon on packages - so much so that she chews it off, bit by bit.  Those of you with cats will know that means it always comes back to visit later - in a very different kind of "gift."  This means that typically, gifts in our house have no ribbon, or they are hidden away from cat view/access.

I wrapped up several gifts this morning, and rather than curling ribbon (which I LOVE), I stuck a simple little length of wide satin ribbon on most gifts.  You know - the same "material" as curling ribbon, but about 3/4 inch wide and not ribbed?  It has a little bit of natural curl from being on a roll, but that's it.  As soon as I approached the tree, Maggie B leapt off the couch.  She was certain that I was delivering curling ribbon for her munching pleasure.  I gleefully informed her that the ribbon was different this year, and she wouldn't be interested.

And yes, as I walked away from the tree, my ears detected the subtle sounds of crunching.  Grrrr!  At this point, gifts which will be traveling away from Prune Ridge are in a bag.  Gifts that will remain at Prune Ridge are upside down/buried/hiding.  Sooooo pretty.

Also, for the record - I only injured myself once while wrapping!  I gouged one finger a little bit with scissors - the same finger I injured several times in one day while baking last week!  Oh yeah, the holidays are here.

Happy Day, Merry Christmas Eve, and Good Fun to All!  Don't slip on the ice.

And more winter...

Greetings, All!  Happy Tuesday night to you.

If you're near us in SE Michigan, you are probably cursing the weather.  It snowed all day - a light, but wet and constant snow.  The roads are a disaster.  It was so convenient for the last regular day of work this week for many people - along with whatever holiday prep bits needed to be crammed into the day!  We're now transitioning to freezing rain and ice for the rest of the night.  Wheee!

Santa can still fly in this stuff, right?

Windy Wintery Weathery

Good evening, Friends!

John and I are just in from a day's jaunt down to Bowling Green (Ohio, that is).  We shared a wonderful meal, a few too many cookies, and lots of laughter and stories with many of John's extended family.  I am reminded - forever and ever - how wonderful this family is that I married into!  Julee and Diane both got a laugh when I said "We're nice people" as we were hugging goodbyes...  but we are!  Neat-o and Nice!

Many thanks to Kim and Ian for hosting us, and to all the various Turners and Reeds for a lovely day!

Happy Holidays, All.  Be Well and Be Taking Care of Each Other!

(Umm, and also be driving safely and staying out of that wind!)

Current beautiful things in the kitchen:

Woohoo - design returns!

I haven't decided if I like this layout, but it's temporary.  I was going for something holiday-ish.  "Zen Midnight" will return in a couple of weeks!

Huh?

Well I don't know what the story is, but as of this Saturday morning it seems that all the formatting on this blog is gone!  Sorry for the boring presentation...  hopefully TypePad will cooperate later!

Happy Days and Laughing Times!

Good evening All!  Prune Ridge is officially decked out for the season at this point.  Some of you will know that "decked out" at our house is a little less decked than some might be.  Some of you may also know from many years ago that for me "decked out" used to be really decked out!  Somehow in the interim, the need for decking the halls shifted a bit (maybe more than a bit) for me.  There are more than a few factors that may have precipitated this shift including my exit from retail management, the cleaning out of my aunt's home, the combining of mine and John's households, and countless other bits!  For me, the bottom line has been good.  We still have a basement full of way too much stuff - but a little progress is still progress. 

This is our happy little tree which features a slightly different array of ornaments each year.  (Due to my previous years of excessive decking out, there's no shortage of ornament options at Prune Ridge.)  This year's tree features a few standards:  a miniature black upright piano, a blown glass slice of chocolate cake, some pieces of fruit, and several bears.  Also appearing for this season after a few years in storage are 4 ginger bread marching band characters, two Nordic boots, one glove, a few birds, and a trout.  Here's a little closeup of the topper - my favorite Santa, with a fishing net in a wooden bark canoe!  (Click to get the close-up version)

Our tree would never be complete without two last features:  The large metal jingle bell hanging off the bottom (a convenient warning system when Maggie B decides it's time to try and climb the tree), and the ever-present Tori snuggled into the tree skirt.  Once the skirt comes out, it trumps most of Tori's favorite napping spots.  She hopes if she stays there until Christmas, Santa might appear and place a tuna directly into her waiting mouth.

As we head even deeper into the holidays ahead, may all the bits and pieces of life that mean the most to you be present!  Happy and sweet days to you, Friends!

Accomplished

Good Evening!  I've had a nice simple day off of work.  In addition to sleeping in (MUCH needed), grocery shopping, making two different batches of cookies, not doing laundry, and napping with one of the cats, I've also managed the following:

• Trimmed a hangnail that was bordering on open wound on my right middle finger
• Cut myself somehow (paper cut?) on the first knuckle of my right middle finger
• Cut myself with my own thumbnail, halfway between the first and second knuckles of my right middle finger
• Knocked over a precariously leaning stack of pans/racks/etc in one of our cabinets, and while trying to catch the falling stack, cut myself rather dramatically on something (probably a food processor blade).  It only took a half hour or so to stop the bleeding - yes, on my right middle finger!

Are you counting?  That's no less than 4 wounds on one finger in one day!  Is there an award for that?  Did I mention that I also have a sore ankle and a sore neck?  Believe it or not, it's really been a lovely day.  John even took me to the store this evening to buy band-aids!

Favorite Activities

Good evening, Friends!

Thought I'd pass along a few pictures of current favorite activities at Prune Ridge.  The girls are hunkering down for the winter, with more of the things they love all year long - sleeping, fighting, eating, and finding cozy nooks.  Maggie's also been doing a bit of holiday shopping - that's her in the first picture, inside a Zingerman's shopping bag.  And yes, that's Tori in the same picture, trying to convince the mom (me) that she isn't thinking of starting something with her sister - and she's definitely not jealous.  Maggie is demonstrating her most favorite winter activity in the next picture - reclining on a heating vent when the furnace is cranking.

John and I are both working on our share of cold weather activity as well.  We've been reading a lot, eating comfort foods, and tonight we went out for a bit of dinner at the beginning of the snow storm!  We're expecting about 4 inches by morning.  Families both north and south of us - looks like you might be getting more than li'l old Ann Arbor.  The wind chime here was snow during the first snow this year - it was my reminder that perhaps I shouldn't leave it out all winter.

Last, but not least, here are Ambassador (our dog) and Barbara (our manatee), decked out for the holidays!  They love to dress up and be festive.  They are both much better at humoring our need to humiliate them than the girls are.

Happy snow, All!  Be Well and Be Taking Care of Each Other.  We'll see many of you in the coming weeks!