Why Have I Never Heard of This Woman??

Being still down with a virus, I seem to have more time than usual for blogging. The good news is that my voice is somewhat back today. Must have been all those Swiss Herbal Cough Drops, eh?

The better news is that I have just discovered cooking author Pam Anderson. No, not that Pam Anderson (but do search the internet with caution). She blogs with her daughters over at  3MC. She has 7 cookbooks in print, writes for USA Today Weekend, Runner's World, and other major publications. The Pioneer Woman loves her. A lot of famous cooks love her, for that matter.  She used to be an editor of Cooks Illustrated Magazine, for Pete's sake. That's the first place I look to find out anything about cooking.

I bought her weight-loss book on the recommendation of a friend and discovered that it is actually not about dieting. It recommends having afternoon tea and a cookie every day! And two breakfasts! As I was reading about her weight-loss journey, I felt hopeful and excited instead of filled with dread.  I am heading over to the library today to get her book that is called Cook without a Book. That's my favorite way to cook! I'm curious to see what she writes about that approach.

Anyway, I'm excited to finally know who she is. As a sometime foodie-ish sort of person, at least one who collects cookbooks and recipes like crazy, I'm part peeved that I've missed out on her all this time and part excited that I get to experience her body of work in one big chunk.

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Riiicccooolllaaa!!!

I had a cold earlier in the week and it seemed to come and go pretty quickly but now I know it was just hiding. Now I'm all stuffed up again, my voice is completely gone and I feel pretty rotten today. My apologies to everyone with whom I interacted all week. I really thought I was better.  The only thing that helps my throat are the eponymous Original Natural Herb Drops. Dang. I've basically cleared the schedule and have spent the last 2 hours doing something I never do: tooling around on Pinterest and Facebook. I think I've doubled my number of pins just today (I discovered color-themed boards-super fun!) and learned that valuable as it can be, Facebook is often just a big pain in the neck. Holy mindless surfing, Batman!

I need to get up and get going.

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America is Awesome. It really Is

I know. Things are crazy.
I know. It's hard to know what to believe or who to vote for or what is real.
I know a lot of people are having some serious, real hard times.
I know that there are a lot of bad, stupid people here in our fair land.

But really. America is still awesome. It is.
B'lieve Hon, as they say here in my hometown.
We can still speak our minds.
We are safer and more secure than a lot of folks in other countries.
As tough as things might be, you still can make your own opportunities. I still totally believe that.

Keep the faith our founders had, do your best, get involved in some meaningful way, find a way to make life better for someone else.

America will continue on.

And dang it, we have Castle. That has to count for something in the historical record.

(and I know. Nathan Fillion is Canadian. But he lives here now, hehe.)

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Pen and Paper...and Pictures (of course)

I have been doing a LOT of writing lately.  Just none of it here. I thought I'd better remedy that. For various reasons I've been writing mostly with Pen and Paper. I know. So old fashioned. In spite of how much I love this little space and how much I love knowing that people care enough to read this, I really think I'll always have a paper journal. The act of writing is so important to me. It helps me unwind my constant tangle of thoughts into something useable, so it is necessary for me.  I have been loving carrying this around with me all the time. It is the exact opposite of cute or fashionable, but it has everything I need. And though I'm not currently using one,  I do love those slim Moleskines, and this just makes me want to click "add to cart." And oh yes, you must try this.

So anyway, why all the handwritten journalling? Part winter, part mental funkiness over some things that have been happening in the family,  part being less busy for the last month than I have in a while, and a fairly big part as a result of some online art journaling classes I've been taking. I do like thumbing through journals, feeling that particular crispness of the pages, or seeing the art I've created.

My various journals, both written and altered, among my mom's
african violets, my heart rocks and,
in the middle, a plant I just received from a friend.
We were visiting her home while at the
cabin, mentioned how beautiful the plants were
and she just gave them away to any who
wanted one.  I will treasure that plant.
Luckily, it's supposed to be easy to grow. :o) 

All in all, everything is peachy. The wrestling season is almost over, with me now chunking through the processing of many thousands of photos for the guys and trying to get them put up on facebook. I do love it when one of those wrestlers makes one of my photos his profile picture. I love seeing my work on facebook sprinkled among my friends. It makes me happy and satisfied with my work to make an image that someone feels good about using to represent who they are.

This is not Ev, but one of his teammates.
It was one of the best moments of the season, though,
and one of my favorite wrestling photos ever. 

The last weekend of January was The Beloved Weekend at the Cabin. I write about it every year and this year was exactly the same, which is awesome, and different in many ways, which is also awesome. I got to see and hear and talk to friends that I don't see very often. Pure sweetness.  We had more special times with our Amish friends, which included watershed moments of singing songs in a one-room-schoolhouse and being sung to in return by 28 gorgeous kids. Whew, I'll never forget that. I'm almost glad we can't take photos of those good people because I really try to see the moments and remember the details. Oh it was a precious time.

Here we are. Some have been coming for twenty years. 

It's been a creative and productive winter so far, and I've enjoyed the mild weather we've had. I even did a little work in the garden. I'm preparing to sprout some late seeds on my beautiful seed starting stand that Eric made for me a few years ago. I've been going through lots of boxes and deciding that if something is worth keeping, I want to enjoy it. So, pictures have been hung, photos have been framed and I'm happy for the daily reminders of good times and precious relationships.

A selection of my boys' tiny glasses from when they were small.
Some of them are nearly destroyed, but I like seeing how used
and real they are.  These little objects were a major part of my
 life as a mom. 

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