Acts of Love

LOVE. It is a wonderful thing. It makes the world go 'round. It hits you in the eye like pizza ...

The songs all talk about love ... romantic love ... big earth shattering love. But my favourite love is good old every day acts of love. Love given daily and freely ... so that you overflow with it yourself and send it on to others. Love from spouses, friends, family, strangers.

There is not a day goes by on the beautiful spinning planet that I don't feel love. There are so many ways to share it ... not just those big movie declarations !

A husband who makes you a hot cup of tea. A cat who gives you a few licks before snuggling into your lap for a nap. A friend sharing his skill and guidance to teach a group of us a new project. A customer who loans you a tool so you can see if you like it. Another who brings you a coffee every week. A book loaned. A mother-in-law who Facebooks you to say that she loves you both and to have a good week.

A boy who works for hours on a work of art as a a thank you ... a masterpiece of the heart. (love you Logan xoxo!!). A young Dad who scrapes all the sprinkles off his little daughters ice cream because they weren't quite the right choice. A Vet's office staff that remembers your kittens name and makes a fuss over her every time you go. Sunny hellos from my customers every week ... and tales of how they would really miss me if I quit. CAPS staff caring for those who have no voice. no power.

A niece who bakes and decorates 54 (yes, 54!!!) cupcakes to help with a fundraiser. A lovely customer/friend who lets me carry her in my heart as my only Jewish friend. Another who comes weekly for great conversation and brings me statues from her garden for my memorial garden that I am building for my Gramma. A Dad who always helps when we need him. A CAPS volunteers who happily announces that she is down to 34 cats that she is fostering.

A waitress who pats your back while she chats with the table. All Acts of Love !!
I am humbled to see these acts of love and am even more humbled to be the recipient. What a wonderful life !!

BRRRR ... it's cold out here ....

LOVE this photo !!

The Olympics ...

I was a huge fan of the Olympics. Years ago, Charlie & I would set our alarm and get up in the night to watch the events when they were in a totally different time zone . We would stay up all night watching and then go to work . ( It was an exhausting 2 weeks !!) Another year, we cut out huge rings and put them in our store window. Then we made stacks of the appropriate colour medals and posted them in the window each time Canada won a medal. We drove through town, horn blaring, and flag waving when Canada won hockey gold. Trust me - we were the only ones in town doing it ... lots of odd looks ! We would subscribe to extra sports channels and EAT & SLEEP the Olympics. They were an amazing thing.
I say was. Because the Olympics have changed for me. They now seem to be less about the athletes and the coming together of a world. They seem to be more about entertainment, celebrity parties, doping & cheating, protests against judges & other athletes, big shows, huge budgets and overspending, sponsorships, funding, and "personal bests" instead of that huge hunger to do it for your country. I loved "HIGHER FASTER STRONGER" much more than "Who has the best funded athletes" and "Who offers bonuses". Or "Where did George Clooney party last night?" The athletic events themselves take a back seat to the commentators and all that goes on outside of the competition. We often don't even get to see events if Canada isn't in them. Too bad really.
( This may all change in 2012 because, as some of you know, my goal is to participate . Yes. That's correct. As a an athlete. I chose ping pong as it is probably the only sport I could hope to do ... and I do have the Wii ping pong now so I can start training ... next year I hope to get a table ... and then "Watch out London... here I come ... ".)

BUT ... that being said, I can't just give up on the Olympics. I LOVE Canada and I LOVE the IDEALS of the Olympics. So I watched the Opening Ceremonies ... flicking back and forth ... I just couldn't help myself. Here are a few of the highlights and low lights for me ...

*FIRST has to be the slam poet Shane Koyczan and his poem "We are More" ... loved it ! It made the whole event for me.
*All the interpretive dance and special effects ... okay , not so much for me ... I had to escape to other channels ... I hate that stuff ! I honestly thought that guy walking in the special effects field and floating in the sky would never stop ... ( But I loved the Joni Mitchell song that he floated to !)
* The 106 day Torch Relay ... for the people, of the people ... genius idea !! Millions of thumbs up !!
* The sorrow of the Georgian Team was heartbreaking. The death of their team mate is so sad.
* HALLELUJAH by K.D. Lang. SPECTACULAR !!! Remember the last Olympics she performed at ... Calgary in the wedding dress ? Anyway, KD singing my favourite song EVER ( you rock Leonard Cohen !!) in a sea of sparkling lights... Breathtaking.
* Loved all the quotes from CanLit.
* The audience members capes forming the flags of different countries ... beautiful !
* Misha B. singing the Olympic anthem ? Pass for me. Sorry.
* The Olympic flag bearers ... a very interesting mix. Well rounded choices. Betty Fox, Anne Murray, Romeo D'Allaire, Donald Sutherland, Julie Payette, Villaneuve, Bobby Orr, and - love her - Barbara Ann Scott . ( Isn't she amazing ??). Great thought went into that.
* Loved the little lights that the audience had ... not as crazy about the cardboard drums.
* Flame lighters ... thrilled to see Rick Hanson especially.
* Thought the long trek outside to light the cauldron lost the oomph of the ceremony and ended the show with a bit of a whimper. ( But I am also not much of a Gretzky fan so , who knows, maybe that had something to do with it ... )
Anyway ... let's get on with the REAL Olympics ... the sports events !!!

So ... that's what I thought ... leave a comment to tell me what your favourite part was ...

2 pOSts in 2 DaYS ... must be a record for me ... and a LIST

* a Brussels sprout
* a dehydrated Brussels sprout (later)
* Ferraro Rocher wrappers
* a wrapped cough drop
* small scissors
* pens
* pencils
* nail clippers
* dozens of Dixie bathroom cups
* small inkpads
* milk caps
* spinach
* apple peels
* potato peels
* kleenex
* full sheets of note paper
* tweezers
* a pencil sharpener
* very heavy beanbag turtle & horse from Bali
* my"Damned Dollies' - handmade dolls from a Toronto artist
* the Eiffel Tower (okay ... a replica)
* the CN Tower ( again, a replica, but I'm thinking she could do the real thing ...)
What are all these things, you ask ? These, my friends, are some of the many items my kitten Dillee likes to carry in her mouth while she runs. It is too funny !! Her other talent is totally annihilating rolls of toilet paper ... and maybe I should get mad and make it clear that is not good behavior ... but it is so funny to see this little cat go ballistic on a roll of TP and then sit in the ENORMOUS cloud of white shreds. I laugh now thinking about it ...

Anyway, Dillee was spayed 2 days ago ... and she has been on HIGH ENERGY ever since .... running, climbing, NUTS !!! Because she seems to have so much energy, I will be calling today for MY vet appointment !!!

hmmm ... what's up with this day ...

Here's the day so far ... but don't get me wrong - it's great !
1. hardly any sleep for the last 2 nights ... Dillee had to be spayed on Tuesday so that meant no food after 8pm. So we needed to take the food up which meant 5 cats with no food . The direct translation of that is "NO SLEEP FOR PEOPLE". They foraged all night ! Then last night we brought the newly spayed Baby Dill home. She was fabulous ! But crazy. I asked Sara if the incision is where they actually put in batteries - she NEVER STOPPED ALL NIGHT. Crazy running, climbing, jumping, running over us , on and on ... So another night without much sleep. And we tried. We thought she would calm down and rest if we turned off all the lights ... you know, trick her into thinking it was night. Yeah, great idea. We ate dinner and sat all evening in the dark. We got tired but she didn't !!
2. I have priced about 300 strands of beads in the last week or so. Pretty happy to have gotten that done. Not so happy this morning to find that all the barbell tags have popped open or fallen off !!! THEY DO NOT STAY STUCK !!!! So I have spent most of the day TAPING every tag together. GRRR.
3. Just ate my lunch ... chicken and mayo that expired in October and then a pudding cup that expired in August ... Hmmmm ... do you get the idea that I am NOT on top of things ??!! Hopefully it won't cause me to expire....

BUT ... have you seen that sparkly diamond like snow out there ? Have you felt that warm gorgeous sun ? Have you noticed how blue the sky is ? How can I care about all that other crap when it is a day of glorious proportions out there ???!!! Enjoy the day my friends !!

A little somethin' somethin'

Here are a few things I made this past week ... I have cleaned up my work room and am on a roll !! The Creativity Journal has really helped me to stay in the groove. I try to always clean off my table at the end of a project and leave the journal laying there ... like an invitation. And it works !! ( my, I am easily influenced ...)
Anyway, this week I experimented with a collaged canvas ... and it was FUN !!! I got to play with Claudine Helmuth paints, inks, sprays, ripped paper, Mod Podge ( although I always call it MODGE PODGE ... flows better ...) metal bits, stamps, whatever !! Here is my first attempt. I already have another canvas painted and waiting !!

Then I took stock of all the paper I bought when I was just in hungry paper-buying phases ... what on earth will I do with it all ????? So I am making it up into small albums. I will sell some in the shop and on ETSY and some will be gifts. Why not ? The first was a kit I bought at a silent auction. Now, why I bought a kit, I will NEVER know ! I HATE kits !! I am such a stubborn ... ah ... person that my life motto is "You're not the boss of me." And that extends to anything creative ... I will not follow a pattern or directions ! At card classes I always had to use the other side of the paper ... stubborn. (It's not always my best trait, I'll admit ...) So , anyway, I have this kit, all packaged page by page. So I dumped the whole thing in a pile, threw in a few other things, and put it together HOW EVER I WANTED. I looked at the directions when I was done and the 2 projects were nothing alike. So now I am starting on all the other stuff I have ... crankin' them out !!

We went to my niece Kari's birthday party this past weekend. She made her own cake ... she was inspired by Sara's beautiful Hallowe'en cake to start decorating cakes ! Her cake was a sweet little garden with rows of little peas-in-pods, carrots, radish, and lettuce - all made by her ! It was adorable ... I'll try to get a picture from her. Her next cake was a fish bowl complete with rocks & goldfish ... cute ! But here's the best part ... she has asked to be the "Guest Baker" for the CAPS fundraiser this month. So she will make the treats for the week of the 25th ... I can't wait to see what she will make !! WOOT ! WOOT !
Well I have a big box of beads calling my name ... better go be productive !! Have a great week !!