pssst....is anyone here?

pssst....anyone?

I am returning to this blog after many many months.
Perhaps, it is a diary now. A very personal diary.

My last post was about struggling with Blogger. This post could be about leaving Blogger only to come back be be even more stumped. That's life, huh?

Summer came and went--with vacations near and far. School started in September and the boys are doing well. Winter has be sunny and unseasonably warm and pretty sn*w free. Blah blah blah.

If you happen to be reading along, thanks. It is nice to have your company.


light and love
deborah

making decisions

i want to begin by thanking all of you that sent brandie some virtual ((((hugs)))) and support. truly. thank you. brandie's surgery went well and she is recovering--now at home.

************************************************************************************
so i put it *out there* that i am considering breaking-up with my blog.

it's not you....it's me.

i'm considering.

thank you to those of you that left a comment or sent an e-mail to not shut down the blog. i still am not sure what i'm going to do. it's either i step it up or shut it down. i know. i can be a little contradictory. it happens. i do that, sometimes.

my intention was really never to be a blogger.
i swear.

originally, i wanted to post pics of my art. (that, like almost never happens.)


i don't consider myself a writer....at all.
i consider myself someone that loves to tell stories and hear stories and read stories and share what i know and learn from other people. somehow, that led me to blogging.

it seems that so much of what would make great blog posts (in my mind) aren't my stories to tell. we have a teenager. our conversations and what is going through my mind daily....sometimes hourly would make amazing blog posts. but, shockingly--16 year old boy-men, don't want their mommas sharing with the world all their business. i know--the injustice, right?

there is other stuff too. but the young man stuff is blog worthy. so, i'm trying to figure that out. actually, it's not so much the *young man* stuff--but, the momma of a young man stuff. this is the stuff life is made of--the messy and interesting, the funny and dramatic, the scary and courageous stuff. i can feel myself stretching and growing everyday. some days, i rock mothering. some days--i'm an epic fail. (of course, we do not say *epic fail* anymore....it's overused--says one 16 year old, that shares our home)


i thought i would still be teaching my son at this time in his life. i suppose i am. but, i really had no idea i would be the student most days. i love this boy more than my heart can take sometimes. sometimes, i'd just like to hold him tight tight tight. those are usually the days when i need to let him loose a little more.

so now that is leading me to some new decisions--directions that i have to decide how to follow. but, i'm getting good at leading from behind, anyway.


love and light and good decisions
deborah

respite

this is my post about taking a little time off from posting.

i will be back shortly--sometime next week.

it's just that i have to attend to some--in the flesh, face to face, up close and personal stuff.

and i'm feeling a little like this.

or this.

it's not quite that bad;)

so, i'll be back and share what's going on. well, the stuff that is mine to share. you know how that goes.

have a wonderful weekend, in the meantime:) yes, i do realize it is thursday.


love and light and a little respite
deborah

good karma blogging

one of the best things for me about blogging is the conversations, the connections that can be made, if you are up for it--open to it. i love the sharing of thoughts and ideas--that by writing and reading we all find our place, that we know we are not alone and that we belong to something bigger. (phew....i'll step off the soap-box now, keeping it handy--as i like the view from there)

this week i received a note from a dear old friend. alright, she's not old. she's young. we are the same age in my mind--you know how that goes. ;) she wanted the low-down on how to blog. and she asked me. i laughed out loud too.

the thing is, there are many ways to blog or journal.
i only know, my way. the way the works for me.

but, truly i'd love some help on how to do *linky parties*.
alright, i'd like to know what the heck *linky parties* are.

i'd like to do less trial and error--though i rock the error part.

i'd like to know where you all learn how to do stuff on your blog.

collage pictures? i'd like to know.

signing your name in a funky font? i'd like to know.

i'd like to know how to do the fancy stuff.

i'm wingin' it. flying by the seat of my pants. it's how i usually roll.

did you know there are not too many *how to blog* books? i need more blogging books. and i need pictures.

this is the only book that so far has helped me along: "blogging for bliss" by tara frey, it's my blogging bible. or my blogging cliff notes. yep, my blogging cliff notes.

what's helped you....would you share your resources? thanks--know that what comes around, goes around. :)




love and light and good karma
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.