This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Taken Saturday, 11/28/09, in Philly PA. (Outside the Lights of Liberty Museum near Independence Plaza) Today I am thankful for making the point of spending a few moments each day of this month to think of & appreciate what I have in my life. (I normally do this in my journal and not every day though I do try). I hope my sharing this each day with you has inspired you to reflect in a similar way on your own lives! And now for something completely different: Saturday, after picking up Sis.in.law from Philly International, we headed down towards the Independence Hall area of town and ended up at a little old pizzeria for lunch (as I mentioned previously). The line to get in to see the Liberty Bell was very long so I took Mom and Sis to view it from the outside, then we stopped in a souvenir shop to pick up a few goodies before heading home. Shortly thereafter, we ended up in a huge, slow crawling backup on the NJ Turnpike. Never fails - returning from PA we always hit massive traf...

Right now I am thankful for the fact that Hubby and I were able to stop being so angry & hostile with one another long enough to laugh with & at one another and be silly for a little while. (Things are a tad on the stressful side in our house hold as of late). Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to update on yesterday's activities just yet. I'm still very exhausted and apparently yet another case of strep seems to be the culprit for the moment. I've called in a refill on my antibiotics which Hubby's going to pick up in the morning and I've got to take it easy for the time being. Right now I'm off to have a spot of tea and a piece of Holiday Bread (from Panera). I hope y'all are having a peaceful Sunday evening!

Yes, I know it's day 29. Yesterday was a very long day & not one spent at home. I am so flippin' tired this morning I can barely function. My 69 year old Mom, who was with us all day yesterday, is doing better this morning than I am and that was her first all day outting in Years. Says a lot about me, doesn't it? Anyhoo, when I can remember my name (and after we return from a trip to Kohl's), I'll post about yesterday. In brief: Sis.in.law has arrived. What I was thankful for yesterday was getting my Mom out for the day, showing her a little bit of Philly (where she's never been) and having a great day with her (and Hubby and Sis.in.law) and for having the chance to just spend some time in Philly, which we haven't been able to do since March. And for our lunch in Philly. I don't remember the name of the old pizzeria we went to (I know exactly where it is though), but the food was Incredible and cost less for 4 people for lunch than it did for...

Today I am so very, Very thankful that I no longer work on Black Friday (which I did for Many Many years) and I can stay home to watch the marathon of Christmas decorating shows on HGTV all day, which has gleefully become my Black Friday tradition. (Along with munching on left overs off & on all day!) I honestly cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am to be home on this day instead of having to be up at the crack of dawn to deal with over-zealous, over-tired, over-caffeinated shoppers! I did get the Fall stuff down and packed away for Hubby to take down to the basement. I even hung the lighted Christmas decorations in the window and gathered together all of my winter themed decorations so I can begin decorating next week. (Winter dec's go up first, then Christmas gets layered over that so after New Year's when Christmas gets packed away, I'm still dec'd out for Winter). I found another basket for my overflowing stash of yarn (the stash of skeins I put out fo...

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I don't know why, but I love this day. I'm always excited, doing errands in the morning, home cooking & baking throughout the afternoon and evening. Today was no exception. I had re-runs of Roseanne Thanksgiving episodes on the TV (Oxygen Channel) with A Peanuts Christmas cd playing in the background. And I was a happy gal! Late afternoon our road became a little bumpy when we found out that it looks as though sis.in.law B will be with us indefinitely as of this Saturday until she goes into assisted living instead of her returning to FL to temporarily live with family there. (This makes it Extremely difficult to get her into assisted living in FL as she would like to do - common sense does not apparently run in Hubby's family aside from Hubby). My bro.in.law and his wife, who just kicked B out of their home last week, have deleted all of us (as in the Entire family) as friends on fb, won't answer their phones and are in Hawaii on vacati...

While I hate nasty arthritis flare-ups, I am thankful, in general, nonetheless.

I've been slowly cleaning, shifting, purging and re-arranging things around in our home, beginning with the bookshelves in the living room, and you know how the domino affect goes! Here's my progress so far. (I'm not sure how the picture of us from this St. Patty's Day got into the album...) Click on any of the photo's to go to the online album so you can enlarge it. I've un-officially finished NaNoWriMo 2009 today with 50,295 words! (Isn't official until 11/25 - 11/30). I don't think I'll ever do this again! (I'm not saying "Never" but...) I've accomplished my goal of finishing 3 years in a row and I am Very happy & pleased with myself for that. I swear my writer's brain is complete mush right now. Not to mention how badly my hands & arms hurt because typing so much has flared my arthritis something horrible. But I am SO Glad I finished this before Sis.in.law arrives this coming Saturday. I've literally b...

Operation Comfort Warriors is a program run by The American Legion "dedicated to meeting the non-medical needs of wounded Military personnel, providing them with comfort items not usually supplied by health care." (~ http://www.legion.org/donate ). "Thanks to the generosity of our American Legion friends and family members, we have purchased sweat suits, phone cards, DVDs, CDs, iPods, puzzles, books, video games, and other items for men and women who are recovering at military hospitals and warrior transition units. These items won't make all of these hero's "whole" again, but it does she them that we care and appreciate their sacrifice." (~Clarence E. Hill, National Commander, The American Legion, as stated in The American Legion The Magazine December 2009). Please go to http://www.legion.com/donate Today I am not only thankful for the good feelings that arise from donating to Toys For Tots and the fact that a boy & girl will each have at le...

Today I am thankful for quiet. It's quiet inside. It's quiet outside. Aaaahhhh...

Today I am thankful for our home. Even though we don't own it, it is our home. And I love our home.

Today I am thankful for home made chicken soup & biscuits for dinner on a nasty evening, my Hubby, my side of the family, my father-in-law and my friends.

Once the tomato's have cooled (see previous post), transfer to a container with any juices from the pan & put in the fridge until ready to use. (They'll keep about a week). Toast up some garlic bread (in oven/toaster over at 400 degrees until crispy/browned) and then spread ricotta cheese on it. Now spoon the tomato's on top of the ricotta. Drizzle with some of the juices or more honey if you like then place fresh Basil leaves on top of the tomato's. I am Very happy with how this turned out! Delicious! I was so excited and pleased with myself when I took the first bite from my fork. I really liked using the garlic bread instead of the usual very hard/dry/crusty bread used with brushetta. (That was Hubby's suggestion when I phoned to ask him to pick me up a bag of the brushetta chips, as I call them, from our food store on his way home). I have plenty for left overs for the next few days (makes a healthy snack as well as an appetizer) and I plan on ma...

2 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, an 8th teaspoon fresh ground sea salt and an 8th teaspoon fresh ground pepper (substituted white pepper because I was out of the other), tomato's of choice Toss quartered tomato's with the honey, evoo, salt & pepper, then spread in a baking pan or on a cookie sheet (I also sprinkled some parsley flakes, basil flakes & garlic powder before putting in the oven at 300 degrees for an hour & a half). Today I am thankful for Inspiration, especially when it comes from an unexpected source. (Seemingly "out of no where.") These photo's show the first 3 steps of my first attempt at 'honey roasted tomato brushetta with ricotta cheese' and if it turns out half as good as it is at our favorite Italian Restaurant, I'll be very happy! The scent of honey and tomato's throughout the house is Wonderful!

These adorable little 'Shrooms arrived in the mail from Jeanne over at The Candy Corn Chronicles (http://wildwoodsartstudio.blogspot.com/) and just made my day! (I love getting all manner of things in the mail). They were her November give away and I was the lucky winner. Perfect for my "to read" bookshelf in our living room! I adored Jeanne's blog (her art and her writing). Thank you again Jeanne!

Today I am thankful for Advil and Thermocare heat patches, even though neither seem to be doing much good at the moment. (Sorry, tmi I know, but it's all I've got right now).

Today I am thankful that sunsets like the one above have returned and I can see them right from our front porch.

Taken at Gateway National Park NJ (Sandy Hook Lighthouse, Fort Hancock).

Not much left blooming here. The colder weather, wind & rain and Nor'Easter after Nor'Easter have left more of a mess than anything else. For more info, go to May Dreams Gardens at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2009/11/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-november-2009.html

Today I am thankful for being able to see the USS NY docked at Earle in NJ (minutes away from where we live), for being able to take photo's of the ship and see her begin to make her departure. Bon Voyage USS NY and Semper Fi to her Marines! Thank you for visiting us and glad we could offer shelter for you until the Nor'Easter finally went out far enough to sea.

Today I am thankful for friends and how just chatting via text can lift my spirits & make me feel better when I need it most.

Please go to the following link for writing friend and author Meg Waite Clayton's blog http://megwaiteclayton.com/1stbooks/?p=1092 or to the phenomenal site SW She Writes http://www.shewrites.com/ for more info & details.

What am I doing? WHAT AM I DOING?! I'm talking writing here. Why am I stalling? Why do I just keep dreaming instead of acting on those dreams? What's stopping me? WHY AM I STOPPING ME?! I'm actually scared. Apparently I can't just write whenever the hell I want to because I don't write often enough. And I suck with discipline. But I love to write. So where does this leave me? Changes and upheaval are abound. I feel myself heading into a tail spin. A bit of a crisis. An identity crisis? A writing crisis? More than one crisis is on the horizon here, I'm pretty sure of that much. And this whole Sister-in-law thing isn't helping me right now. Or is that why I'm feeling like this in the first place? I feel like I'm counting down my days until her arrival in the back of my mind. I was looking forward to going down to Philly for the day, because, as you all know by now that I love Philly and any excuse to get me down there. But now even that idea i...

Today I am thankful for comfort food on a Nasty day when I'm not at my best.

Today I am thankful I didn't wake up with a post iv med treatment hangover, that I didn't get heartburn after my morning tea, for the simple & pure joy I get from seeing the Winter birds back at the feeders in our yard and for Inspiration.

Today I am thankful for our Veterans! Love Freedom? Thank a Veteran today! Thank you to all of our Vets, past and present for all you do for our Country every day! Thank you my dear, wonderful, amazing Marine Husband!

I cannot begin to tell everyone how much I look forward to Where Women Create (and Artful Blogging) as the time for a new issue to hit the stands draws closer & closer. As you all know that while I'm a writer above all, I do dabble in all things crafty & creative and seeing the spaces where women explore their creative outlets feeds inspiration to my creative soul! (Click on the icon above to find out more about WWC). Congrats Jo on your first successful year with Where Women Create and here's to many, Many more! Love, Jo

Today I am thankful for The United States Marine Corps who are celebrating their 234th Birthday today. If you know a Marine, please go out of your way to wish him or her a Happy Birthday. To my Husband, Happy Birthday.

Today I'm thankful for having a restful, quiet day at home & that Hubby let me sleep in for once! I was so tired and in a lot of pain this morning, not to mention the fact that my nose had clogged up like I had corks up each nostrel Sunday night & was unchanged by this morning. Hubby woke me to tell me he was leaving to go hunting (he hadn't woken me up getting up for the day), gave me some cold medicine and stayed with me until I went back to sleep. Sometimes I need more sleep than you could ever possibly imagine. My normal tired or exhausted is others' cold or flu fatigue. Today I was exhausted. I'm hoping for a better tomorrow.

Today l am thankful I was well enough to be with our American Legion Post for the Veteran's Day Parade and that we had the opportunity to make our friend Chris's day by letting him ride in the truck with us as we drove our American Legion & Auxilliary Posts down the parade route. (He has Down Syndrome & has a special place in our Posts heart). I'm plum exhausted. I hope everyone's had a great weekend!

Today I'm thankful for getting out of the house for a while on a pretty Fall day and for having another nice time with Vic & Mom. I'm also thankful for people like the young man whose Memorial appears in the photo above, who volunteer to Serve and Protect our Country and our Freedom knowing they may never come home. (We attended the dedication ceremony this afternoon).

I'm thankful for a nice evening at the VFW/American Legion with Hubby and Mom.

Today I'm thankful for feeling so content after getting the rest of the Halloween decorations boxed up and purging the book cases of books that I do want to read, but know I'm not going to read any time soon. (All of which starts getting carted down to the basement tomorrow thanks to Hubb's. In the process I also dusted (much to the chagrin of my allergies) so everything looks clean and decluttered. I did a lot but paced myself and used the office chair so I was sitting most of the time - still sick/getting over being sick).

Today I am thankful for the excitement a new skein of yarn brings, for the simple pleasure of reading the new issues of Artful Blogging and Where Women Create Magazines and the comforting feeling of my cheek against Hubby's skin.

At this moment I am thankful for such a beautiful Autumn morning here. I am also thankful for my Freedom and the ability to vote (which we did early this morning).

30 Days of Thanksgiving Catching up: Yesterday (November 1) I was thankful for Hubby taking care of me when my arthritis flared badly & I was in so much pain and for his love. Today (November 2) I am thankful for a new novel idea that seems very promising. For more info, click on the following: http://keepinupwiththetatums.blogspot.com/2009/10/30-days-of-thanksgiving.html

Many Blessings to those remembering their loved ones who've passed on before us. Love, ~Jo )O( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Souls_Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead

Let the madness begin. ( http://www.nanowrimo.org )