i swear i have stuff to tell you

i have all kinds of stuff to tell you and pictures to show you....but blogger is giving me attitude.

no editing. no copying and pasting. all photos exactly where i don't want them.

i'm in no mood for it. i have other stuff to think (read worry) about. b is driving with an instructor--right this moment.

i'm thinking about buying a driver's ed car--so that i can have a passenger brake and steering option. i'm mostly kidding. mostly.

or can i just pimp my ride? my 10 year old mini-van? that would be sweet, no? :)

alright, that's all i have until i arm-wrestle blogger into submission. i'll try again later. i have a story about baseball and poorly behaved adults. i have a story about what i'm reading, i have a story about setting boundaries and i have a story about snakes. oh, and i am sharing recipes for summer salads.


love and light and attitude
deborah

why we do the things we do

why we do the things we do. intention.

we do them for some kind of pay-off. now the pay-off may be vastly different from person to person, but there is a pay-off--or we would stop.

so why do you blog, if you blog?

what is your pay-off?

i'll tell you. i started blogging for one reason, or what i thought was one reason. and my reasons now have grown and changed and become much more clear.

originally i wanted to have a place for my customers to view my pieces--paintings and jewelry and handbags. yes, since i've started apples in wonderland, i haven't posted one of those things. i will return to that in time, i'm sure.

however, i wrote a little silly note on facebook a couple years ago. it was the bucket list note that sort of went viral and i realized that several of my 20 things i want to do before kicking the bucket could be done through my blog. really.

so here is my list from 2009.
1. travel the world for one year with my family....and then take a vacation
2. see jack johnson in concert in hawaii....and then a luau
3. summer in a cottage on lake michigan with all my favorite people....just relaxing, collecting stones, eating well, drinking wine and having a ball
4. write a book of essays about my grandparents for my boys
5. learn to make pottery
6. dance with big red at his 25th birthday party
7. enjoy my boys as men and see them happy in their lives
8. raise a barn with red....a creative space for art and music and great shin-digs
9. give with a warm hand
10. paint abstract landscapes on canvas too big to fit in my van
Original acrylic on canvas. 30" x40"

11. sleep in a thatched hut in tahiti over the water....enjoy the sunset and a fruity cocktails with red
12. travel italy, spain and greece with people that enjoy good food, any wine and lots of laughs
13. road trip across the US during the summer....in search of the best pie
14. be a paint chip namer, food critic or pajama tester
15. get paid for what i would do anyway....express my opinion on everything
16. design clothes and jewelry for my own label....indigo jones studio
17. do a summer of traveling art fairs
18. interview everyday people about the stuff i REALLY want to know
19. not be allergic to kitties and start with two....they always lead to more
20. my friends and family to know, really KNOW how much i love and treasure them

i'll break it down.

i want to write a book of essays about my grandparents for my boys. i want to get paid for what i would do anyway....express my opinion on everything. i want to interview everyday people about the stuff i REALLY want to know. and i want my friends and family to know, really KNOW how much i love and treasure them.

so this is why i blog. this is why i do what i do. why do you do what you do? i really want to know.:)



intentional love and light
deborah

a giveaway and what do you have to lose?

i'm working pretty hard to stay on track with my weight loss. and it is pretty hard.

weight watching....er, counting my points accurately is sometimes hard. sometimes impossible. though, sometimes easy-peasy. like yesterday--when i went on a restaurant's website and found the nutritional information that makes it easy to choose well.

so i met up with a bunch of blogging michigan moms at a wendy's to try out their new pick 2 for $4.99.
(hungry group of michigan blogging moms)

a friendly group of woman--i hadn't met any of these women before, some came from as far away as grand rapids. i drove a good 40 minutes for this meet-up, and wouldn't you know as i'm sipping a tea at my local starbuck's with a friend this morning one of these women sits down across from me--she lives just a couple miles away and her kids and mine go to the same school. it really is a small world--oh and of course, because i was meeting my friend early or because i am lazy or because i thought i wouldn't see anyone i had spent time with yesterday--i slipped on the same outfit as yesterday, complete with necklace. (maybe that's why i was recognizable....i looked exactly the same) excellent.

wendy's has new half-size salads (spicy chicken caesar, baja, apple pecan chicken and blt cobb) and then you can choose from other items--like a small chili, baked potato, jr bacon cheeseburger, chicken go wrap, small beverage, bottled water or frosty. i steered clear of the yummy frosty even though it was calling. my. name. and well, i wasn't having french fries. as an aside did you know that "dipping your wendy's french fries in your frosty" has 104,370 fans as of this morning, on facebook? i know. i'm full of that kind of what-am-i-to-do-with-it-trivia.

i was so good--picking the apple pecan chicken half size salad and a water--with a lovely pomegranate vinaigrette. as is, with the grilled chicken breast and all the fixings it would come to 8 points. totally awesome. but.....i saved my packet of pecans for a *seriously i need to eat something right now* moment. tucked them into my purse and guess what? that delicious salad added up to only 5 points--for lunch.


truthfully, we don't eat a lot of fast food because usually i would have to give up all my points for the day in one sitting. but, i can see stopping in for this combo again. salad and chili(saving the pecans again) only 9 points. seriously.

if i hadn't already had dinner in the crock pot i would totally have served up wendy's for dinner.

how about this--i want you to try these pick two combos. so a giveaway. just leave a comment to get your name thrown into the hat and become a follower on this blog and i'll put your name in the hat twice. then some random kid will draw a name on wednesday, october 20th. a lucky winner will receive a wendy's gift card--what do you have to lose?


best
deborah

disclosure:i worked with wendy's and themotherhood.com and have received a stipend for my participation. all opinions within this post are mine.

you are most cordially invited

you have more time than you think.

168 hours - that's how many hours there are in a week and the title of laura vanderkam's new book "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think".

so tuesday, today--i am an *expert* sitting in with laura vanderkam and a fantastic group of mom bloggers to talk about how we spend our time and how we can look at our schedules differently and free up more time.

here's how martha beck describes her reaction to the book,

"Within a few pages, Laura Vanderkam's crisp, entertaining book convinced me I had time to read it. Then it convinced me I had time to reread War and Peace. In the original Russian. Thank you, Laura, for freeing up my schedule."

-martha beck, bestselling author of Steering by Starlight.

i'm sure i'll learn a ton, too.

please come on over and join in. it's all text. this is your invitation. yep, i'm inviting you.

visit themotherhood's talk

it begins at 1:00pm EST.

can't make it--no time. no problem. when you have a few minutes, pop on over and the entire talk will still be available.

i know. so cool, right?

themotherhood is most awesome. when i'm not here, you can often find me there-- where i use capital letters properly.


best
deborah