Cup o' Love

Rich made me a cup of herbal tea as I worked on family history last night. When I was ready to call it a night at 11:30 I picked up the empty cup to take it to the sink and noticed this special message in the bottom--created from the tea residue!

Soul Food

Quick, urgent knock at the door. I open it, but no one is there! Just these lovely, fragrant hyacinth. A secret friend!

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft
and of the slender store
Two loaves alone to thee are left--
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinth to feed thy soul.

Thank you, sweet Rachel! (She just can't keep a secret for long!)

The world in my hand

I found this rock waaaay back in, oh, probably 1972, when I went to the beach (I think it was Crane Beach in Massachusetts) with my cousin, Shelley. It looked magical then, and I guess it still does possess a bit of magic, as just looking at it brings back memories of that time when Shelley and I were best friends. I've kept it in my box of special things all these years, but it got misplaced soon after we moved out here to Washington. I tried several times to find it, to no avail, then the other day I came home to see it sitting on the counter. Rich had been doing one of his cleaning days, and came across it. By the time I asked him where he'd found it, he couldn't recall...but no matter! Do you have a special something that serves as a memory keeper?

Two roads diverged

You can't read the sign very well at the fork in the road, but one side (left) is black (as in "Black Diamond") and the right side is blue (intermediate). Nary a beginner green circle to be seen. We THOUGHT we were skiing on a green run, happily oblivious to our impending doom. Obviously we Chose the Right (aka intermediate) and made the best of it. We made it to the bottom in one piece and tried a couple more times to find where we went wrong, only to have to renegotiate this more difficult path once again. Finally, the last run of the day, we found the elusive Holiday Trail. And it was only then, on the beginner run, that I had my first fall of the day, going too fast to negotiate a turn and stopping myself in powder before I could hit some trees. This was White Pass, 2 and 1/2 hours from home, and we had a great day enjoying the sun, scenery and short lift lines (felt like we were playing hooky from school on a Friday!) I can't say as we made a lot of progress technically speaking, as we were still mostly snow-plowing our way down runs, but our experience and confidence grew (all that time on Intermediates!) On the way home, Rich summed it up nicely when he said, "If I never ski again, it won't be the end of the world, but at least I know I can do it."

Grateful for Gluten

Got this book out of the library at Thanksgiving but never read it. My son-in-law, Golden, did though, and when he told me it changed his life, I had to give it another go. I've never been a very good bread maker, in spite of having the desire. Now, voila! Artisan bread with minimal effort! So glad I am not allergic to gluten! I concur, Golden: Life changing!

Crystal Mountain Adventure

(Rich and I coming down the bunny hill...) Haha. We did 2 runs on the bunny hill, then felt we were ready to take on the higher slope. It was still labeled "Beginner" --was even called the Tinkerbell Run, so how hard could it be? There were dozens of little kids (couldn't have been more than 5-7 yr olds) zipping down it, no poles, so we set out. After wiping out several times each on that first attempt, we felt we couldn't quit in defeat, so went up Tinkerbell 3 more times. We were feeling a bit more confident by the end of the 4th run, but our bodies were bruised and battered and we retreated back to the bunny slope, where we were AMAZING! We did that sucker 6 times before decided we'd proved our mettle and could proudly call it quits for the day.

Future Synchronicities

1. Haven't been aware of many (any) synchronous experiences lately so decided to "look ahead" and envision good things to come:

*Brandolyn is able to sell her house via auction next week, using the method/book I used to sell our house in San Antonio back in 1998.

*We've had to switch insurances (read: Cheaper) and by switching to Group Health, Rich finally finds someone who can help him with his various issues.

*Because Vanessa & Ben aren't old enough to get a rental car in Ireland, where they wanted to go for their honeymoon, they switch gears and end up having a magical experience in Kauai next month.

Golden wasn't offered the job with BASF in Texas and as a result, he is available to accept an even better job, close to us in Washington.

*The first house the Siemers made an offer on fell through, which opened the way for them to find a better, more suitable house (in which they will live happily for many years to come!)

Here's to good things right around the corner!