Roy g biv

Rood, rouge, rot, rosso, rojo, redi, rosu, rooi, or in my native - red!  Such a bold, vivid color - one that is full of vibrance. It's a color associated with strong emotion - love and anger.  It most definitely makes the top five list of my most favorite hues.

This post was prompted by the subject in my first sneak peak photo below.    I love that my kitchen has large windows across the front, and one day while working there, I spied this fellow flitting around my front yard.  I watched from indoors for a while, but then couldn't help myself.  I grabbed by trusty zoom, and headed outdoors.  While waiting ever so patiently to grab a shot of this beautiful red guy, I had the time to see just how busy nature is - creatures constantly working.  Rarely do I just sit and watch - I too feel like a creature constantly working sometimes.  It was nice to watch and wait - nice to get the exact shot I wanted.  My little subject made me wait but boy did he give me a show!

Every time I wear something red, I hear a voice in my head - the voice of my dear grandmother.  "I just love that red!"  It was her favorite color and everytime she saw someone wearing the brillant hue, she commented that it was her favorite.  Looking back, it fit her personality.  Red is strong and so was she.  The mother of five girls has to be strong!  Hard work was natural to her.  Persistance and determination were evident in her presence.  Qualities for which I admired her; qualities I hope to share.  I can just hear her voice now as she sees me walk into the room wearing the item in my next zoomed shot.  Oh, I know she would love them!

I am so incredibly sentimental - to a fault at times.  I attach memories to objects which makes it incredibly difficult to do some much needed purging at times!  But objects that I will never purge are featured in my next sneak peak.  In fact, just last year I decided to showcase these treasures of mine.  I have so much fun unpacking these jewels each year - many of them with some sort of red ribbon or red paint attached.  Each time I look at them, I'm taken back to sweet moments in my children's lives - proud faces as they handed me a package decorated with their primary handwriting and precious drawings, a package containing my treasure. 



Oh how I absolutely love, love, love traditions!  Now, honestly, I do love creating and replaying the many traditions that our family has established; however, I am secretly hoping that my children will enjoy them as much as I do so when they are grown and gone they will miss our traditions and travel back home to visit their dear old momma who makes the snow cookies only at Christmas time.  Many of our family traditions involve food, probably because I enjoy cooking so much.  Since my children were old enough to stand on a stool beside me at the kitchen counter, we have all worked together on Christmas Eve to make a very special item.  I know they do so enjoy eating this yummy treat; however, I think they most enjoy the mess of red they can make while we create our Christmas Eve masterpiece!

In this season of red, rojo, rood, rouge, or whatever your native tongue declares, my hope is that each of you can find interest and inspiration in the ordinary images that surround you.  That you take the time to actually look and then  really see the beauty around you.

LOL #21

Those that know me, know that I absolutely love to cook.  But as much as I love to cook, I have never had the desire to make a Mincemeat Pie. 

My first thought the other day when I passed by this Robertson's jar of mincemeat wasn't - "Oh, I should try to make a mincemeat pie."  Instead, my librarian mind went straight to Pip or even Ebenezer, two characters made famous by the pen of Charles Dickens.  While I couldn't quote the chapter and line, I knew for certain that a mincemeat pie had been consumed in at least one of those books!

Seeing this jar made me chuckle.  Maybe because I'd never before seen a jar of mincemeat sitting on a grocery shelf or maybe because I turned the jar around to find out exactly what meat was in this mincemeat cuisine concoction.

 

Sugar - check

Apples - check

Currants - check

Raisins - check

Various fruit peels - check

Spices - check

Meat - NO check!

To my surprise - absolutely no meat! Ok, so maybe I'm the last cook on the planet that didn't realize mincemeat contained no meat.  Regardless, it sent my research geared mind to spinning.

Apparently, the traditional English dish did contain some sort of meat at one time - maybe mutton, quail, chicken, pheasant, hare, liver... (At this point, I'm thinking the mincemeat pie sans the meat was a good idea.)  From my research, based solely upon the quick readings of several websites, the pies may have been originally called Christmas pies because of their oblong shape possibly resembling Jesus' crib with a small pastry doll placed in the center on top of the pie.

During the Medieval period, Crusaders brought new spices back to Great Britain which gradually and slowly replaced the meat in the pies.  Interestingly, the name was never changed.

Today, the traditionalist seem to scoff at the mincemeat pie in a jar, and this sweet vs. savory dish is alive and well in some circles - the Mince Pie Club, to be exact. This group hosts a site "dedicated to the appreciation of the Mince pie."  This site itself gave me a little LOL!  I guess we all have our causes.

So, back to my original thought upon seeing this mincemeat pie in a jar - Charles Dickens.  Let me end this LOL post with an appropriate quote from A Christmas Carol -

"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor."

Jump In

At approximately 1:30 this afternoon, I was driving home from the pediatrician's office for the third time this week.  To be completely honest, I wasn't happy about it.

At approximately 1:30 this afternoon,  I was driving home from the pediatrician's office for the third time this week when I heard the horrific announcement on the radio - a senseless and asinine act of cowardice had occurred in our country.

At approximately 1:30 this afternoon, I was driving home from the pediatrician's office for the third time this week when suddenly I was overcome with gratitude that I had made the three trips to the pediatrician's office with two of my three precious children.

I have been tragically reminded today that I am thankful - thankful for:

• the socks continually left on my living room floor
• the toothpaste in the sink that just seems to never get washed down the drain
• the never ending laundry
• the soccer shin guards that are so smelly we have to roll the windows down to make it to the game
• the empty cup that is always left on the counter instead of the sink from a quick drink of water before bedtime
• the arguing voices 
• extracurricular activities every night of the week, even when I'm tired
• having to repeat myself over and over
• the bathroom hand towel that never gets put back on the towel ring
• an empty toilet paper holder
• Lego pieces that really hurt my foot when I step on them
• the sticky syrup that never seems to get wiped off the kitchen table...

I asked my husband a few weeks ago if I would be a scrooge if I didn't put out all the Christmas "stuff" simply because I didn't want to clean it up afterwards.  Last weekend, we picked out a tree and the boxes came out of the attic.  We managed to get the tree decorated but all week, we've been walking around red and green plastic storage bins.  

Tonight, I jumped in - jumped in with both feet.  Stockings are up, Christmas books are out, Nativity scenes are set, the second tree is up and decorated, Christmas plates are displayed...  Our halls are decked!  Perspectives, they can change in an instant.

Tonight, I jumped in - I listened more intently, I hugged a little tighter, kissed an extra smooch, watched and prayed as children slept...

Tonight and tomorrow and the next day, jump in -

 

Encourage

In an effort tonight to clean out the photos on my trusty pocket cam (AKA iPhone 4) in order to make room for a long overdue update to its software, I came across a photo I took this past summer - one of those extend-the-arm-out-of-socket-self-portrait kind of photos.  It brought a smile to my face as well as a much needed reminder to my heart - encourage someone.

I met these two wonderful ladies a little over twenty years ago.  Okay, I'm taking deep breaths and admitting my age, but I was fresh out of college and ready to tackle the world of education.  I thought I was doing a great job at the time, but looking back through my eyes of age, I did okay.  I would have never known it though because of these two special teachers - my encouragers.

They complimented regularly, guided as necessary, laughed often (with me not at me), taught me by modeling what good teachers do - encourage.

Encourage (verb) 1. give support, confidence, or hope to (someone) 2. give support and advice to (someone) to do or continue something.

Throughout the past twenty-two years, these ladies and I occasionally pick up where we left off, chat over lunch or dinner, laugh out loud, discuss our common interests and take a little time to catch up with each other. They still compliment and guide; they still encourage.

Twenty-two years later, I'm still in a school trying to tackle the education world and hoping to make a difference, a difference, of course, that I may never know has occurred.  I needed this reminder to encourage those that sometimes aren't so easy to encourage.  To encourage without regard to behavior, to encourage even when I don't feel like being encouraging.  To compliment regularly, guide as necessary, laugh with and not at, to teach by modeling what good teachers do - encourage.