Living life and Memorial services

I have recently been to a number of memorials for people who were about my age, give or take 5 years, and who died unexpectedly.  How do you reconcile this with your own sense of being 20+ ish?  I guess the only thing to do is to realize that age is creeping up on me, and I need to do all the risky things now before it is too late.  I have a quote on my facebook that goes something like this.

 I do not want to go to my grave all tidy and neat, well pressed and proper, I want to slide in sideways with a glass of wine in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other hollering "whoo wee what a ride!!!!"

Looking at these people I knew,  I have to say only one did this- the others were living their lives and doing good things for their families and friends, and may have had some moments when they explored this, but only one, truly lived his life on the edge, on the outside, doing his own thing and TOTALLY enjoying the people and circumstances of his life. Did he die rich?  famous? Nope to both, but he did die doing what he loved, he did die on his own terms, and I gotta believe there was a small smile on his face.

Here's to living life to its fullest- what ever that means to you - because you never know when that cold turns into pneumonia or when you aren't feeling well and your heart just stops ticking.... you just never know.

Be sure to tell the ones you love everyday how much they mean to you, so you have no regrets and they know you loved them.
Be sure to  howl at the moon now and then, and ride that roller coaster now, not next time...
 AND be sure to say yes to every adventure, every thing that comes along from a new business to a wild adventure, so you will know you did it all in the end...

List for the Universe to fulfill

January is a month of renewal and introspection- where am I on my path?  How can I get to my desired goals? what do I need to do to move forward? What is it I truly desire?  Is the Universe just waiting for me to decide?  I think I will post what my true desires are and see how I fare in 2015.

So here it is:
1.  I want to win the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes and start receiving $5000 a week for life. or the TOH sweepstakes - the house on Nantucket would be perfect for us!
2.  I want to lose the Menopause weight I have gained and get stronger- I will do this by running, yoga, the 7 minute workout and eating less.
3.  I want to travel to other countries this year- I have all my shots from my trip to Africa last year, so it is a good time- Turkey, Italy, Greece, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, England, most of South America is on the list as long as it is relatively safe...ah the constant issue there... And any island nations.... starting with the Caribbean.
4.  I want to do meaningful work for this community.
5.  I want to write a book and publish it and make money from it- enough to pay the bills
6.  I want to finish our house- rooms still need trim and paint and the kitchen needs to be gutted and designed and installed- need money for this last project, see #1
7.  When I have won the sweepstakes I will set up a foundation to fund grants to groups/individuals
doing good work in Oneonta and the surrounding area.
8.  Pay all outstanding bills and be debt free- see #1 again.
9.  Continue to have a strong relationship with my husband and children. I am extremely blessed that we are so close and good with each other, I want to be sure to foster that loving, caring environment with all of them.

As you can see this list counts heavily on goal #1 so I am focussing a great deal of positive energy and desire towards that goal.  All the others will come with this secure money source.  If #1 doesn't happen (soon enough)  then #5 needs to be successful at the same rate- $5000 a week.

In looking at this list I think this list is a good one for me, specific to my needs and wants, but I also think this list is probably pretty similar to everyone else's list.  Enough money, a comfortable home, good family relations, meaningful work and giving back to the world as well as traveling to see more of it.  What do you want?

Handmade Christmas and Pinterest

We made it to 2015! Yay! Our Christmas was really wonderful with the exception of no snow :( , but the Homemade Christmas proved to be really terrific.  My family, it turns out, is very creative and talented!

There were lamps with shades made from old slides- beautiful wood projects made by Elf Raphael using wood from our basement- including beautiful floor lamps made from old shutters... hand sewn hand warmers, and journals with stunning cover art, and exquisite wood wall hangings with paint and cooper worked into the ancient grooves.  I will add some pics to give you the idea.  But it was just really great to see what each person came up with and how thoughtful and beautiful the presents were.  

I do think everyone enjoyed not only Christmas but the process of creating for Christmas; it added so much love to the presents, and goodwill to each person who worked so hard to make it special. 

I know that most of us got at least starting ideas from the website Pinterest.  I had only  taken a cursory look at it in the past, but with the need for new ideas I asked one of my daughter's how you got into it and she showed me the steps.  Easy really, and I was quickly able to access 100's of ideas, many with instructions of how to make the item, and it just made me realize that most people love to create and share.  If this had been around when my kids were little, wow!

I'm not sure if I have shared this, but each year my daughters and I would make a family gift- that we would produce enough of to give to all our family members, neighbors, teachers, anyone we wanted to give a gift to- sometimes we would make 30+ gifts!  

It was a family project, where we would have to come up with an idea, figure out how to make it, and choose to make it for everyone.  The choosing process was part of the fun- when they were little it was usually a hand painting project-but as they grew older the gifts got more sophisticated and we often made a "boy gift" and a different "girl gift".  Also, as we were creating them, we would decide who it was for- so it was personalized in some way, at least in our heads!   We didn't have Pinterest, so we looked at craft magazines, and books and went to craft shows in the area, or saw a store bought item and figured out how to make it.  

Not all the gifts were a success, but they always were loved by us, and given with love to others.  I know this year's Christmas reminded us all of this yearly process, and I know there was sharing of ideas between various family members to make just the right thing.... I think what we did was very Pinterest like- I guess you could say we were the precursor to Pinterest.  

Anyway, with Pinterest, the world of great homemade gifts is at your fingertips- and you can take ideas and combine them into something new and uniquely yours.... I am so happy to have this wonderful site and pleased by the sharing that is there- people creating and sharing is how we improve the world.  Thank you Pinterest!