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I love fabric. I also tend to hoard and collect it (just like the ornaments). But just like scrapbooking paper that I hoard and collect I really should try and use it more often so I won't feel quite as guilty when I buy even more. Do you love fabric? You should check out this line I recently found. Last night I ordered 18 different half yards. Oooooh. Can't wait to see it in real life! American Jane Building Blocks

File this under "Only in Eureka":http://times-standard.com/fastsearchresults/ci_4486860  This guy recently spent several weeks outside of the health food/grocerystore picketing the store's choice to sell live lobsters flown in from Maine. He actually paid for and got donations for buying the lobsters and flying them back to Maine to reenter their ocean. Do you think for a moment that upon release they just swam off and thought, "whew, that was a close one!" I imagine more likely all that trauma of back and forth killed them. Of course the real crime is that they probably died nowhere near any melted butter. And think how that time and money may have helped a human in need? Buy some kid who lives in a car with his mother a backpack for school and some warm clothes perhaps? I just don't get people sometimes. Most times, come to think of it. Not surprisingly the Co-Op board of directors caved at the thought of having offended anybody so they've now unplugged the brand new $5000 tank.  http://times-standard.com/fastsearchresults/ci_4746283 

(Sorry, but it's just such stories that really make me roll my eyes.)

I like telling the story of how my mom, whenever she got in her mind that she wanted to collect something, say widgets, would make it her life's mission to find every widget in the county in the course of a weekend. Like juice reamers. On a Friday night she'd see a photo of a collection of them, we'd spend the entire weekend combing every antique store we could find, and by Sunday night she'd own 25 reamers. Well, truth be told; I'm really not much different. I recently decided I L*O*V*E old glass christmas balls, and now I can't go a day without driving to a nearby town to check their antique stores or popping in to see if St.Vincent's thrift shop has restocked their shelves since I last checked. Now that I've collected quite a few I'm not really sure what exactly I want to do with them. I knew I wanted a bowl of pink ones...I can leave that out virtually year round...but I have a lot left and am far from being done looking for more. I saw some cool wreaths on ebay with old ornies glued all around. Thinking I'll give that a go. Any other ideas?

We saw the movie "Bobby" this weekend. I fought back tears for much of the last half. It is almost overwhelmingly sad to me how very short a distance we've come in almost 40 years. I know that in the big universal scheme of things 40 years is a drop in the bucket, and that change will happen, but watching us try to self-destruct in the meantime makes me sick at heart. When the movie was over and the credits were running the screen kept flashing personal photos of Bobby and his family. Bobby and Jack. Bobby and his eleven children. Bobby as a child. Bobby on the campaign trail. Sounding more of a prophet than a politician. John and I finally got up and walked out when the stars names were done rolling, but the photos kept coming as the crew credits started to roll so still nobody else got up to leave. It seemed to me that we had been touched. Touched by the ring of truth that our media and government try so hard to keep us from hearing. (Here, eat plenty of 99cent burgers and plug into your playstation. No worries! Just get fat and stupid and pay no attention to that man behind the curtain). I sound paranoid, huh? I am. About our government, anyway. You should be, too. 

Our brave young men are dying in the swamps of
Southeast Asia.  Which of them might have written
a poem?  Which of them might have cured cancer? 
Which of them might have played in a World Series
or given us the gift of laughter from the stage
or helped build a bridge or a university? 
Which of them would have taught a child to read? 
It is our responsibility to let these men live....
It is indecent if they die because of the empty
vanity of their country.
RFK, Vietnam War speech, Calif, 3-24-68

http://www.rfkmemorial.org/home/

I'm currently in the throes of digital scrapping--Christmas is fast approaching and I always (this is the sixth year) do a Caleb Calendar. Here's a peek using mostly Rhonna Farrer elements bought at 2peas. Two more months to go!  Finished! Yegods, no wonder my neck and back always hurt, the way I've been crouching over this 'puter all day.

Caleb, our grandson who is in Kindergarten, attends a wonderful nondenominational Christian school just two blocks over from our house. The tuitition is surprisingly affordable, so I guess it's not surprising that there are a bunch of fundraisers held throughout the year. The biggest one of all is the Fall Dinner which was held a couple weeks ago. Approximately 21 people hosted tables of 8-10 people each. I volunteered to be one of those hosts. I at first thought we had to bring the food and everything, but come to find out I just had to set a big round table with my own dishes, flatware, etc. AND invite guests who would pay $25 each to eat mass-produced chicken dinners and be prepared to bid on lots of auction items :-D No problem! It was fun. Here's a couple pics of my table. I really should've snapped the pics as soon as I was done decorating...I left it overnight and when I came back they had rather mucked it up with all the coffeemate containers and bidding papers etc, but you'll get the idea:
Close-up of my rather type-A attention to detail:

Scary, I know.

Here's one other bit o' bling I just COULD NOT RESIST.

(I keep inserting those little breaker lines above because the pics jumble all over the place depending on what size screen you are viewing on).

In addition to hosting the table I donated a couple silent auction items. One was this quilt that I originally made for a Christmas gift but I have enough of all the materials still leftover to do another one. Now to just make the time to do it!

It's a comfy 55x67 inches and is backed with fake fur (I think it was called "shorthair poodle"!) so it drapes nicely. One of my friends at our table ended up winning it for $100. I at first thought/hoped it should've gone for more but seriously; there were more items than people in there. For example; I won a fish tank and all the trimmings, valued at $500, for $200. What on earth we need an aquarium for I still haven't figured out, but couldn't pass up the deal!

The other thing I donated was a perpetual cookie sheet calendar that I already had made and was hanging here in my studio. Again, had hoped it would go for more, but I couldn't be happier that my dear friend Karen (another table guest of ours) proudly hangs it in her home now. 

I had a huge heartbreak earlier this year. Lost the best friend I thought I'd ever have. I'll have to say it was the 'highlight' of 2006 for me. A loss being a highlight is not a healthy thing; I know. I finally had a breakthrough regarding how to put it aside yesterday. Now that; putting it aside and moving on; will be a healthy thing. One of the tasks toward putting it aside is going through my 'saved messages' folder and deleting those from her. Last night I came across this saved msg from my good old friend Laurie (not the heart-breaker). I believe it was Instructions for Life from the dalai lama, found floating around the internet last january. I don't remember reading it then but I'm glad I saved it:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s: -Respect for self, -Respect for others and -Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Caleb, John and I saved a lot of Black Friday $$ by driving A*L*L D*A*Y today. 500 miles back home from my mom's house. The drive takes 9 hours. We drove down there on Tuesday. It's a lot to cram in to a four day period but we really enjoyed our 48 hour visit and need to do it every so often. I decided while driving today that I'm going to post an entry on this blog every stinking day from now til the New Year. Not sure what's supposed to happen at the New Year, but I should at least be in a definite habit by then. So I'll save my little bits and pieces of news and thoughts floating around in my head for the next 37ish days :-)  See ya' tomorrow.