SOME VERY GOOD THINGS!

Martha Stewart. Quick - what image came to mind when you read her name? I know there are REALLY mixed feelings among people about Martha. Some people find her obnoxious, arrogant, out of touch with the 'everyday' people SHE claims to be. Others find her a wealth of information, someone whose lifestyle they desire to emulate, whose $$ they WISH they had! LOL! And there are those - myself included - who see Martha as a woman who is very self-made. I tremendously admire the fact that, as much as she'd have us all believe she comes from $$ & high society but DOESN'T, she has learned enough, worked hard enough, and ingratiated herself INTO that world through connections. She is NOT the 'every-woman' Oprah is. But she is someone who has made it her goal to reach for what she wants in life. What I most admire about Martha is her ability to do pretty much ANYTHING and do it darned well much of the time! True, she can be haughty, she has the WORST habit of rudely interrupting EVERYONE (a thing that annoys me beyond belief) and there are times I find myself talking back to her through the tv screen and letting her KNOW she's being pompous! But I watch her. Yes. I ALWAYS record her program. Do I hang onto her every word as I did when I first 'discovered' her back when she had a mere 30 minute program NOT even on cable? Nooooooo! In fact, I tend to fast forward through much of her me-me-me speeches, and through segments of her program that just don't feel relevant to me. (I mean, I doubt very seriously I will EVER have the need to build a rose lattice for my non-existent garden or re-do my mud room. MUD ROOM????? Right!) But I DO learn so much from Martha. And therein lies her appeal to me. Her mantra has ALWAYS been, "Learn something new every day!" and I believe in that! With that long intro to this blog entry, let me tell you what got me on the Martha train today. I was watching her Friday as she visited the last of a week-long foray into a street of small restaurants. They were all pretty cool, & while I suspect ALL were far out of my price range, I enjoyed visiting via tv. This last one dealt in desserts. Now, you may be surprised to learn that this VERY round Comanche doesn't much care for sweets. Okay - bread pudding is a weakness IF it isn't made with leftover cinnamon rolls or - UGH - raisins, which I loathe. And the ONLY dessert I can't resist is custard. I LOVE custard and would be delighted to dive head-first into a pool of it and eat my way out! So when I heard Chess Pie, my attention was WON. Chess pie is not custard-filled, but it has a similarity to custard & I like it. I've made it numerous times, actually. The basic recipe calls for three simple ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs. How easy is THAT? But what really caught my attention was how it got its name. I thought perhaps someone used to serve it to men playing an after-dinner game of chess. Decent guess but WAY off. The fact is, when it was served to someone way back when, the recipient asked the ingredients & was told it was just eggs, flour, sugar. Well - LOL - I suspect the person who HEARD them, may have pronounced it "jest" eggs, etc. And when she repeated it to another person, THEY heard "CHESS". Thus, chess pie. Funny, huh how words get passed down incorrectly through the years, then STICK that way. Thank you, Martha! That was a GOOD THING!



And while I'm on the topic of learning, a friend of mine has been learning to do wonderful paintings! She has (somewhat recently) started using oil pastels and soft pastels, in addition to acrylics, to paint the bright, wonderful things in her head! This painting is my very favorite because, to ME, it looks as though Christmas EXPLODED with sheer joy! And guess what? It's for ME! I am TOTALLY thrilled! And very proud of her because she has so many talents already and has added painting to those!

I am an odd bird (as most of you already know) and tho' I don't generally admit to this, for the past 30-plus years I have set a goal for myself. I do not allow myself to rest or sleep at night until I can think back to the day and recall no fewer than three new things I've learned. If I can't, I get up and look up something! Yep, I'm completely serious!

So I hope you will leave me a comment here & tell me what new things YOU have been learning! Even if you cannot TOLERATE Martha, I CHALLENGE you to take a page from her book & learn something new every day!

AND THE WINNER IS ...

The crowd waits, a collective silence punctuated only by an occasional nervous twitter or a soft cough. It's almost time. OH! There she is, and in her fist she clutches it, a tiny slip of paper. A small gasp, emitted in unison, ripples across Blogland. Whose name is on that slip of paper?

BINGO! WE HAVE A WINNER!

Bloggers, the winner of Kai's Valentine's Day give-away is the beautiful, the ever-elegant ...

ELEANOR ERICKSON!

Congratulations, Ele! Your Valentine goody box will be going out this coming Saturday! I hope you like it! And thank you to everyone who left a comment! You are ALL my Valentines!

ONE LAST THING FOR TODAY: The adorable & BRILLIANT Laura at My Little Orange Kitchen is celebrating a birthday today! PLEASE, GO OVER TO HER BLOG & WISH HER A HAPPY ONE! You'll find the link to the right side of my blog. If you don't ALREADY 'know' her, you will be delighted! If you DO, well, you already understand!

HUH? WHAT'S THIS????

The blogging community is awesome! It really IS! We are people from all over the world, who are most likely never going to meet face-to-face, but who share so very much. We read each other's words, look at pictures, expose our art - whatever our artistic genre may be - and sometimes expose our hearts. We encourage, express opinions, make each other laugh - and even cry now & then - relate, ramble, and - gasp! - often become genuine friends! Yes, FRIENDS. I'm constantly disagreeing with those who say a person cannot be friends with someone online. Hogwash. Sure, there ARE people on the internet who are not who they say they are - scam artists & perverts - but for crying out LOUD! I'm talking BLOGGERS here. And I have made SO many real friends through blogging. I know a lot of us who check on each other, ask about each other's families and even pets, worry when one of us is ill or absent from Blogland for a bit too long. For some of us, our blogging community is our social network. I no longer get out the way I used to because I am in constant pain. Just short outings wear me out & cause pain for days afterwards. I've always been a VERY social person, and that has left me alone a lot of the time. Without my blogging buddies, I would be lonely. I'm not! And I thank you all for that!
Now what on earth is all this chatter and nostalgia about, you may be asking? Well, today - all week actually - I haven't been feeling my best. Oh, I'll live - LOL! - just physically not so great and exhausted to boot. Then the mail came and what did I find but a BIG box on my doorstep! Hmmm - I didn't ORDER anything! (THIS time.) Checked the return address - Ohhhhhhh, OKAY! Monica Magness! For those who may not recognize the wonderful Monica's name, she is the amazing artist who came up with the Pink Artist Project to raise $$ for the fight against breast cancer. Her idea - for artists all over the world to create 1" squares and send them to her, became a magnificent doll she called Love Squared, and which raised SO much money! I could NEVER say enough good things about that sweet, caring girl! Her blog link is listed to the side of my blog. CHECK HER OUT! Visit her OFTEN! She will amaze you! Anyway, she had TOLD me she was sending me something. I thought she meant a lil' card! GOODNESS! This is no 'little card' - THIS is a treasure! And what IS it? Well, look at this writing. Her words ALWAYS say something very relevant!


And check out the scope of her detail work! WOW! Everywhere you LOOK there's something new & marvelous to discover.

What? The caged BIRD? We wonder why he sings, don't we?

How about this very cool face and all the various things she used to create it? Is that clever or WHAT?

Do you wonder WHAT it is, this piece of art? Well, it's a PILLOW! And it's just GLORIOUS! I know people call them 'throw' pillows, but I DOUBLE DARE anyone to throw THIS pillow! It's an absolutely wonderful & delightful masterpiece! I LOVE IT!!!! THANK YOU , LIL' MONICA! My spirits are so lifted, my smile is ear-to-ear! And you have given me one MORE example to use when someone says, "Oh, Kai! You are SO naive! You can't be calling people you meet online your 'friends!" YES! I CAN!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE ...

Oh, you THOUGHT you were rid of me, didn't you? Well, here I AAAAA-AAAM! Back again to post my ridiculous bits of nonsense & show you my ecclectic (crummy) artistic endeavors! Bwahahahaha! Seriously (Are you kidding? ME? SERIOUS?) I AM back, but I am also majorly swamped with editing, so I STILL have very little time & even LESS blog-worthy stuff to show & tell. Am I creating? Yep! But everything I've made recently is for February birthdays and I can't show them because I haven't even MAILED them to the bd folks yet. Also, I'm leaning toward a 'new' (for ME it's new) creative idea, so I want to explore that a bit, try it, and spring it on all of you to see what you think. Do stay tuned for that, okay? I have FINALLY checked some of your blogs & - OMG! - you sweety-pies have been BUSY! I love the One World, One Heart going on & sooooo wanted to post a comment on those blogs who are involved. But because I didn't get in on it soon enough, & therefore didn't have a chance to offer an 'official' giveaway for it, I didn't think it was right for me to do that. So, Ele, Monica, Terisa, and ALL whose blogs I read & love, know that I DID read your blogs - just didn't want to be unfair to those who ARE playing and offering a giveaway. HOWEVER, that being said, I would VERY much like to offer a small independent VALENTINE giveaway here on MY blog. I won't show you what I'm giving because I am giving one to several friends & do not yet want anyone seeing it. But, it's CUTE, CUTE, CUTE if I say so my bad self. If you leave a comment on THIS BLOG ENTRY between now & next Thursday, January the 29th, I will draw a name on the 30th & the winner will be announced that night! I am going to the post office - my monthly PO venture - Sat. 31st, so whoever wins it will get it in plenty of time for HEART DAY! And now, my dear and wonderful blogger friends, off I go to do what I am SUPPOSED to be doing - editing this stack of manuscripts! I'VE MISSED YOU ALL!

BYE-BYE!

Just wanted to say, "Bye-bye! Toodles! See ya'! Adios!" ... you get the idea. Will be away from the computer till between the 15th and 18th. I'll check your blogs when I log in again so POST a BUNCH! LOL!

REDBIRD PRAYERS

WHEW! I was just about ready to give up on Blogger this afternoon! I tried a NUMBER of times to post & add photos to my two blogs, but it wasn't happening! I finally gave up & went away from the computer before I became really frustrated! Came back, tried this blog again, and - TA-DA!!! - it worked!

This counted cross stitch is a gift for my dear friend, Susan, whose sweet hubby, Vann is undergoing chemo for pancreatic cancer. Lately, for whatever the reason, people have been giving her lots of Redbirds! Now, I am a traditional Comanche who firmly believes that Brother Eagle carries prayers to the Great Spirit. He is our sacred bird - our Holy bird. But ALL creatures, animal & human, are Holy beings and that includes the beautiful Cardinals with their distinctive song & their lifelong attachment to only one partner! With that in mind, I decided to create a CHOIR of them in cross stitch so they can sing prayers together for Vann's healing! I don't mind if Susan sees this because I won't be able to mail it till the end of this month and it's not for a birthday! I just hope she likes it!

And before I close this post, I want to publicly wish my best friend, Jan Demetralis aka Jandee to others & Tweeledee the Wild Gypsy to ME, the best birthday EVER! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY JAN! I love you more than Christmas trees, Earl Grey tea, books, and the movie, SHAKA ZULU! You know me well enough to know, THAT'S A LOT!!!!

WINTER - HOUSTON STYLE

I usually don't use blue text - I admit I'm not even a FAN of blue! - but today it seems appropriate. Noooooo! It's NOT a statement about, or an indication of my MOOD! I'm actually in a very wonderful mood! It's just supposed to represent HOUSTON'S idea of a 'blue norther' or, in other words, cold day. Those of you in NORMAL places with REAL Winter weather would laugh. Heck, I think it's pretty pathetic, too! But until I get to Wisconsin, this is the best I'm going to get so ... The tree is one I've photographed in other seasons. And this is how I like it best - without its leaves! I LOVE the twiggy-brown bare branches of Winter trees. They make me happy! The weatherman said this morning that we would have just a few more hours today of 'cold, dreary' weather; that by 3 P.M. we'd warm up & have sunshine. I say, "Boo! Hiss! KEEP your sunshine! AWAY with your warmer temps! I want it to be gray and c-c-c-cold and WONDERFUL." But I am, after all, in Houston still. Save me a place, Wisconsin! I'll be there as soon as I can!

VEEEEEERY FUNNY!

I realize I have been a naughty blogger lately, but it couldn't be helped & now I'm behind, not only in commenting on my friends' blogs, but in posting to my own. Sigh. Let me TRY to begin catching up. I can't show you what creative nonsense I've been working on recently because it's all for birthday gifties & those have not yet been received (the ones for January) OR - in the case of the February gifts - quite completed. So let me do a small retro post re: Christmas! This IS, after all, a blog titled CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS YEAR ROUND!

This lovely package sat atop a number of other, much larger packages to be opened Christmas morning. For some reason - perhaps it was the red - it drove me insane! I NEVER open anything before Christmas (unless specifically ASKED to for whatever the reason) but I was tempted - intrigued - curious ... yet I was also GOOD. Isn't it a compelling lil' box?

When Christmas morning FINALLY arrived, I could barely STAND the suspense! My housemate, Ray (aka Fred Flintstone - LOL!) had his stocking gifties to open, so I took the red box to open. Lid off and the anticipation was high. (The next two photos are reversed - my bad - but you get the idea.)

Oooooo ... tissue, too. I gently lifted it from the box.

I carefully pulled aside a small piece of the tissue ... and here is where I must begin to explain something. (Come now! Did you REALLY think I'd do ANYTHING in a normal way? Patience, my dears, PATIENCE!)

Have you ever watched the Peanuts Halloween special - you know the one - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown? If so, you will recall that as the kids trick or treated, they would compare their stash after leaving each house. You'd hear one say, "I got a cookie!" and another say, "I got a candied apple!" And each time, poor old Charlie Brown's sorrowful-sounding, "I got a ROCK."

Ladies (and perhaps even Gentlemen?) ...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! ONLY FRED FLINTSTONE! I have my pretty box here on the desk to remind me that no matter HOW much we expect ONE thing, we are SURE to get a surprise! I LIKE surprises - even if they are in the form of a ROCK.

P.S. I DID get other gifts from him. A BIG bottle of Pinesol - don't ASK - & a HUGE box of 720 baby wipes (I use them for EVERYTHING when I'm creating.) THEN the really GOOD stuff! Thirty - count 'em - THIRTY boxes of Yogi brand Cocoa Mayan Spice tea bags from Whole Food. YUM! I am TOTALLY addicted to it thanks to my friend Laura who introduced me to it months ago! AND gift cards - $100 EACH - to Barnes & Noble, Target, and Hobby Lobby! Woooohoooo! I felt like a PRINCESS! (I STILL like the rock, tho'! LOL!)