Saturday, March 30, 2013

Lovin' Easter!......

 Family, babies, candy, an abundance of food, lots of fun, and wonderful memories!
The whole day makes me smile!














 Life is good!

Friday, March 29, 2013

Thursday, March 28, 2013

A Blessing....

This is for me...totally for me.  I am looking for a way to include this in my blog (my journal so to speak) so I have a permanent remembrance of the feelings that are filling my heart, mind, and soul tonight without actually putting it out for public review.  There does not seem to be a way so please understand that this is a way to record the feelings in my heart now...as I am feeling them...the disclaimer attached that this is not my ordinary blog material.  The past 10 months have been an awakening for me.  It is not something that I can easily explain or even understand.  I have questioned the timing of this, the reasons for this, and the meaning of this.  There is not reasonable explanation....it is just a gift. 
I have been Catholic since birth.  It was not a choice.  My parents and many generations before them were Catholic so it was predetermined that would be my birth right.  And so it was with my kids.  I was the product of Catholic schools.  My teachers were nuns and Mass was part of my school day.  My religious upbringing was a habit.  I did not object to that part of my upbringing.  It just became SUCH a habit that I think as I grew older I lost the real meaning of Church and the meaning of my Catholic faith.  I was for years only a Christer....that is an attendee on Christmas and Easter.  I prayed even during these times away from the church....when I lost my car keys, when my kids need guidance and I needed help with that, and when there were any other problems I needed help solving.  I did believe.  I just did not practice what I believed.
In May of 2012 I went to Mass on a random Sunday, which was not part of my usual routine.  It was not Christmas and it was not Easter but I felt a need to go. I cannot explain that day but when I went to church  knew I was home.  I belonged there and I have been there every Sunday since.
Easter Sunday is almost here.  In a way I am sad.  For me Lent has been another awakening.  I choose not to give up anything this year...but to do something that would hopefully make me a better Christian.  I choose to attend Mass more than just on Sunday morning.  I did not know what that would do for me.  I have grown in my faith in a way I never saw coming.  I have learned so much about myself and my God.  I know that I was meant to be a Catholic.  The symbolism, the tradition, the ceremony, the ritual...it is right for me.  My whole being feels every part of the Mass.
Tonight I went to the first Holy Thursday service I have ever attended.  One hour and forty five minutes long and I was sad when it was over.  There was such an abundance of symbolism in the mass. I spent more than half of the service with visible tears running down my face.  I have never been part of such a moving ceremony.  I know from watching the congregation that they were where I was...in total awe of the presence of God in our midst.  We left the church in total silence...not wanting to let go of the feeling that had captured all of us.
Tonight I feel a calm and a peace that is different than any I have ever felt.  I am grateful, I am blessed, and I am humbled.  It is like that feeling you have at Christmas when the spirit is so strong and you wish is would go on forever.  I almost hate to see this Lenten season come to a close.  I have grown so much in faith in the last 40 days.  I believe that Pope Francis is a gift to the church.  He came at a time when Catholicism was struggling.  He will be the right person to lead us back to the roots of our faith.  Tonight my heart is full.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Love These Girls....

 There is not a day of the week that these girls cannot put a smile on my face!!!!


Saturday, March 23, 2013

A Little Bit OCD.....

Actually, I am not just a little bit OCD....I am a lot.  Not in the normal sense of the word.  I do not wash my hands continually.  I am way past being a neat freak.  You would know that was a fact if you saw my kitchen sink.  I don't have to check and see if the door is locked a dozen times before I go to bed and I have no desire to eat my food in any specific order.
BUT....I do find myself unusually "absorbed" or "fixated" on something ALWAYS!
If I buy bath soap, it is not a bar or two, it is two dozen bars at a time.  I do not take one picture of something, I take 30...of the same pose or object.  If I am in to a book, I read it cover to cover before I stop.  
Well, the past few months it has been sewing.  I have always liked to sew.  It is my form of therapy.
Just lock me away in my little room with my sewing machine and you could leave my meals outside the door.  I have no need to come out or have human contact for days.  It is my happy place.
So that is what has been controlling my mind lately....FABRIC!  I don't just buy a yard or two...I buy dozens.
I am literally a hoarder of cotton by the bolt.  I could sew non stop from now until I could not longer see and still not use up my stash.  I do not buy one pattern at a time.  I buy 18.  
I have it under counters, in closets, under beds, and all over the floor.  Sometimes I  open plastic tubs just to look a the colors.  Remember it is therapy!  The thing is, it is only my obsession right now.  Next month it might be knitting or cleaning the garage (that one is highly unlikely).  Whatever it is, just know that I will not commit only with slight enthusiasm.  I am 150% in or not in at all.  It is the OCD in me that drives me...in all kind of crazy directions.
This month this is my MANTRA.  Watch out for my next compulsion...and pray that it is not alcohol!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Just a Little of Everything...and Jimmy Kimmell....

Stressful....the whole day.  Sometimes that happens and you just go on hoping tomorrow is better.  Today I just could not get to the that place where you turn the corner.....so I ran to the store to purchase wine glasses for a gift and bought M&M's instead.  I can't eat them. They don't digest but today I don't care.  I am hungry and not for an apple.  So if I am still carrying around M&M's in my stomach tomorrow...so be it.
I came home to find yardmen Jimmy hired trimming our bushes.  They handed me a bill for $150. The normal charge is $50.  He gave them $100 too much. Again....so be it. Another Random Act of Kindness for the Shubzda Family...like the contribution I made to the car repair man who found me in the Target Parking Lot.  God keeps sending those who are in need of a Random Act Of Kindness our way,  If you know anyone with company that charges three times the going price for a service, well, give them our name.  Those are exactly the people we hire!
On a better note...I decided I needed down time before bed tonite. I caught Jimmy Kimmell in time to change my whole day!
FIRST and FOREMOST....
It is mating season for the penguins.  There is that part of the population that is too young to be wondering loose and getting in trouble with the opposite sex. So to stave them off and keep them occupied they bought them ipads to keep them entertained. The problem is their beaks don't function like fingers so they can never win the game.  As I see it...sheer frustration may send them to the pond to be looking for a mate soon.  How would you like to peck at that screen all night with no results?
SECOND
The famous yoga pant maker LULULEMON has had to recall all of their women's yoga pants.  They seem to be too sheer.  Just reporting the news folks! That leaves 1 out of every 4 wearer of yoga pants out in the cold with no pants.  No, I won't go there.  I would be one of the three remaining with pants because I do not know LULULEMON and I promise you cannot see through the yoga pants that are $7.99 at Marshall's.  Just relaying the facts.
 And FINALLY, but no less important.
It seems the Russian Bears have taken a liking to sniffing gasoline.  They actually have been photographed rolling a large barrel of jet fuel to an undisclosed location where they sniff till they drop. Anyone who thinks they are going to go to Russia and take that fuel away from the big brown bear is just wrong.
So thank you Jimmy Kimmell.  Now I cannot even remember what I was stressed over.  Well, I know it was the gross over payment to the yard men but I am over it.  It drove me to M&M's and Jimmy Kimmel and a few great laughs and for that I am grateful.

Monday, March 18, 2013

ESCAPE!!!!!!!!

Finally!  Bags packed and out the door.  It has been six months since I loaded the car and headed out to the lake for a little R&R.  No reason for the lengthy absence...well, actually there were lots of reasons for the absence, but I have put all of the details of a not so fun fall in a folder and filed them away hopefully forever.
 Walking in after six months away reminds me of Henry Fonda and Catherine Hepburn in "On Golden Pond".  I lack the dramatic flair of ripping off the dust covers and opening the doors and reminiscing about all the wonderful days spent there but I relate to the dirt that has to be removed before the fun can begin.
 So slide open the patio door, spray a little Fabreeze to remove months of stale air, and grab the cleaning supplies.  Oh...but first get out the vacuum and suck up all of the cobwebs that are housing the spiders that have called this home since I have been away.  They reproduce at an amazing rate when you are absent.
 It is theraputic.  We are three days away from the official start of spring and we are cleaned and polished and ready to ENJOY a summer down in Tool, Texas.
 We have another reason to be sprucing up....a lakeside wedding!!

 Over at Tim and Mandy's the family gathered to start preparations.  Brooklynn is becoming a resident horticulturist.  She loves to dig in the dirt and a trip to the nursery is about equal to the toy store for her....ahhh, a child after my own heart!


 All well done jobs need adult supervision....right?
 I am up now guys....gloves on, where is my flat of flowers?
Great weekend...so many fun times ahead!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Color Me Happy!.....

I have been having trouble pulling together any kind of thought for a post lately.  Blame it on Benadryl, nasal spray, and Advil.  I am suffering from congestion and whether it is in the form of allergies or just a plain old cold ....I am tired of feeling bad.  Since food therapy does not work any more, I indulged in a little therapy of the retail kind this weekend.
 A perfect cure!!!!
 WOW....the stores are surely calling my name this spring.  I have loved color since color was not in.  I avoid black and gray and anything neutral so I was in retail heaven all day long.  
 There are no rules.  Throw together purple and orange and you will look like a designer dressed you. Mix it all up and you are totally in.  Vera Wang.....how does your color wheel look this season?
I came home with sacks of stuff....nothing matches.  I will spend this spring looking like a rainbow exploded on my body.  It feels good.  Today in honor of "spring forward", it was the semi annual closet redo.  It was winter up and spring down.  I don't think I will wait for Easter to wear white pants and sandals....I think tomorrow will be the day for a little lime green and coral. I never much follow the rules anyway.
Goodbye drab winter colors...I feel better already.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Mary Poppins......

Channeling the chimney sweeps!

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Most Dramatic Bachelor Ever.....

Well, for the last however many seasons that has been the catch phrase. Having NEVER missed an episode,  this year I can say I totally agree.  It has been a nationwide pounding of the woman with the "sparkle" and the "stink eye" eyebrow.
Tierra the Terrible set off an American outrage and I imagine everyone was waiting to watch the witch self destruct tonite on national television.
She did not disappoint!  She confirmed that she is about as crazy as the woman the cameras caught for the better part of the season.  
Sorry Chris Harrison, but your expression as we watch Tierra self destruct was classic.  How could you sit there and listen to her pathetic tales of woe without laughing?  Actually, how can you continue to host "The Bachelor" season after season and keep a straight face?
Fast forward to AshLee.  Wow, there was almost an onstage smack down between her and Sean!
So one of you two is lying.....and whoever Sean gives that ring to does not really care what he told you I assure you.  Not a fan.
Desiree, you are a class act.  Seriously, your brother owes you big time for destroying that relationship but you stuck up for him and for that I applaud you.
Last thought...who is the mysterious letter from?...  The letter that makes this the "most dramatic final rose ceremony in Bachelor history".  My bet is that it is from Sean's sister...the one who saved him from Tierra.  I am not sure she sees either of the final two sitting across the dinner table from her at Thanksgiving.  
So entertainment after hours around here has obviously hit an all time low when this is the highlight of my evening...so what do I do after next weeks finale?