Just remember...

..as a Mother, you try to keep your children away from hurt and sadness.

Sometimes you can...sometimes you can't..

Today I couldn't.

My daughter learned of the death of one on her and her brother's high school friends. Actually, he was my son's very best friend ..and looked out for Brandi, even taking her to a high school dance..as a friend.

He went on day trips with us and his strong, funny personality boomed with the love of life..he was an artist..a teacher..a Daddy & a friend to many..he was a child of God..

Jeff went with him on a double-blind date..the date that introduced his friend to his future wife..

And, as happens after high school..one gets married and starts a family while the other remained single..

Two boys..both at the start of their lives..

Joe & Jeff..each going in their own direction..

Joe went on to be a great father to 4 beautiful children, Jeff went on to fall in love and marry our beautiful daughter-in-law Rachael..

Joe & Jeff reconnected briefly on Facebook..promising to get together..but by this time, they were on different paths....one the father of 4, settled into his life....one a newlywed..
just starting his new life.

Then today, the news of Joe's passing..unexpected to us, certainly not to his family due liver failure. He was on the top transplant list, but pneumonia set in and his big heart finally needed rest..

And now, both of my children are hurting..and the lessons are once again being heard..

.. remember..

Cherish each day..

Don't waste a minute with the crappy little things..

Tell those you love that you love them..and tell them why..what they mean in your life..

Be always grateful for every day you get to wake up, get in crazy-busy traffic, go to your job, complain about the weather, clean the kitchen, wash your car..

...write your blog..

..connect with friends..

..watch the snow..look for birds..get puppy-kisses.

And tell the kids that it's OK to cry..to be sad and to hurt..and to remember...

Remember the snowball fights and hot dogs cooked at Trial Lake in the snow..

..the Halloween dance..
..the art you shared...
..the 7-11 late night stops for a jug of cold milk and donuts..
..the "all-you-can-eat" a the Mexican restaurant - where he surprised us all by how much the wrestler-football player-bigger-than-life-friend could actually 'all you can eat"-eat..

..and it's OK to miss him...

it's OK.

Love,
Mom

Dedicated to Joe Massey

Walk in Heaven with the 'other' Big Guy.

We'll always remember you, Joe..

'Orange" you glad we have blogs...

When I was a little kid, Daddy would make home made bread..

..no, that's not Daddy..

Yep, Daddy made the bread...and the jam..sometimes.

this is not Daddy either..

Well sometimes he made the jam but he was the only one that made the bread..

..OK, Daddy and the Wonder Bread people..

No, the jam. Sometimes he would make strawberry jam...

Sometimes apple butter..which is weird to me..I mean..is it apples? Is it butter?? I dunno..

Anyway..

He always had a favorite jam..which I guess is not a jam at all, by definition....

"marmalade is a sweet jelly in which pieces of fruit and rind are suspended. The key is the rind, which gives lends a bitterness to delightfully balance the sweetness of the jelly."

Where as jam, which is a condition I find myself in when I have to make the ethical choice buying this week's gas for my car or that aDOrAbLE purse ..what to do..what to do..??

Ummmm, how much is the bus??

Bygones..

OK, so Daddy's very jam-like substance was.....orange marmalade...

Really. And it just happens that's the the comment that Mr. B pulled out of the high-tech colander for tonight's blog post..(thanks ZuZu - your word won the "Stump the Nut" drawing :-)

http://a-cottage-in-the-woods.blogspot.com/

{tune in tomorrow to see the prize package..um..envelope that you've won, ZuZu}

I never liked Orange Marmalade when I was a kid, but it's one of my very favorites now.

That and Cloudberry Preserves..isn't that just the very best name ever?

Thanks Ikea..but, while I'm thanking you, can I ask whey you changed the label on the Cloudberry Preserves? I mean, you may have a great graphics department, but I really really really loved that the jar was as lovely as the name..not so much anymore..

Now... that's like having a darling beautiful little baby girl....

..

and you put Broomhilda's photo in your wallet...

(not that Broomhilds's a bad person...........I'm just saying....)

..it's just that they don't 'go' together..

And yes, I miss Daddy..and homemade bread and jam...but I smile every time I have Orange Marmalade on my 1-point Sandwich Thins ..

What flavor of jam brings back sweet memories for you?

-me

ps - thanks everyone for playing along - this was fun for me..hope it was for you as well.

Sadly, I have finally figured out what I am...

I'm just one old ..er

hahah..and I am old-er, too!

Yep. Sum me up with 2 little letters..e.r.

Not like in ER- the emergency room..

or ER the TV series..

just er..

Google-er

Sew-er

Laptop-er

Walk-er

Collect-er..and yes, creative spelling is just another one of my talents..I am a spell-er..

These guys are obviously not slackers..they're doulbe-ers..

..they are canoe-ers and logg-ers {that might be a  boat?..OK, then they'd be boat-ers..)

Hmm..maybe I'll tell people that when they ask on planes.."So ..what is it you do?

And I'll tell them "I am a professional ER.."

"Got my PhD in ER back a few years ago"

"Youbetcha...and it was a lot of hard work..my thesis was amazing.." To er or not to er"..."to er is human; to forgive"..ah, you get the point..

They probably won't to ask anything further and I can continue to be a nice, quite ..read-er.

So, what er are you into lately??

- me...the blog-er

little bit-o-nuttin'..

Hey, remember Bit-O-Honey candy? Wonder if they're still around?
OK, first..you DO know that chicken-buzzard-rooster foot was plastic, right? OK, good.

I mean, if it weren't..ewwwwe..

So, today's post has just a little more to show from the Estate sale..and if you can use any of the images, either on this post or other ones, please just right-click and save them to you computer :-)

Oh, and I'm asking Mr. B to draw an entry for the "Stump-the-Nut" contest on Saturday - so if you haven't yet, look on my sidebar and click on the "Stump the Nut" entry..leave you word or phrase there..it'll be fun!

My eyes are unusually sleepy tonight - so I'll say sweet dreams and have a Fearless Friday :-)

One never knows..what one will find...while walking the dogs..

..do they..?

One foot...no body...

Anyone see a one-footed chicken running  hopping around?

If so, let 'em know I have an extra..

Moral: Keep your eyes open and you inner-child's couriosity ready for the "possible"...

'Cos you never know...??

-me

The Cord is HERE! ..and other stuff...

Yay! My little laptop is breathing and working and being all warm and lovey...

But, Saturday when I went to an Estate sale...{where I got some GrEaT finds! I'll share with you in a minute} I didn't feel all warm and or fuzzy.

Well, not fuzzy anyway..and why would I want to feel fuzzy? Warm, I can see. But fuzzy?

OK, the Estate sale. This one was great..see??

Then when I was ready to leave...I spotted ..them! Books! All old and worn and...old. And lovely.

But some big 'ol man was hogging the settee where the bookcase was..rifling through those old, worn.....old pages..that should belong to ..me

I waited..patiently..glancing over once..twice. Now I was getting less patient..and he wasn't moving.

I moved in closer..sat right across him..stared at him. Any harder and one would think I was..well..coveting his..books.

And I was. Really. Actually, my books.. my future books..

The plan was set in motion..I would befriend him..small talk..make him put his guard down..then..then..

..So I say "you're a collector?"

Yeah.

Huh...so you collect books? Old books? To...collect.., right?

Yeah. You?

A collector? Noooooooo..I use them in my ....art..

So, you're an artist?... an artist-artist? You know....

{yeah, totally in put-down-doubting-Thomas-type-speaking..}

I hesitated for a nano-second..then said..

YES..I am an artist...artist!.. So, are you like a collector-collector?? And, by the way..I want that book..and that one..oh and that one..

then he was all like..no that's mine

and I was all - oh no it isn't..and he was all up and..and..

no, not really. but if he hada..I woulda...

So, here's some photos to show you what I was able to find..maybe you can use them in YOUR art.{I will scan better scans over the week-end, OK?}

.because..no matter what we do..no matter what medium we use..no matter how we see our creativity..

...we all all artists.

Yeah...artist-artists..

now, go make some art..or appreciate some art..or buy some art.

-me

OK, so you may have noticed..

..I have been kind of 'hit-and-miss' on some of my reading and commenting. Sorry.

Really. I miss you..but my laptop..my new, pretty laptop has a bum-cord.

Yep..not even 6 months old and it's power cord, it's very lifeline, was no more..

But wait..we have {insert a choir of angles singing 'Ahhhhhhhhh'}

...a warranty!

..and all I had to do was to spend about a hour speaking to someone not of my primary language..

 ..and since I speak no other language, besides my own brand of English..I had quite the pain in the ne adventure getting them to understand that "yes, I am most certain it was indeed plugged in..that I did try different outlets..and no, the transformer is not getting warm.."

So I am relegated to the art room where if you asked me 6 months ago if I even wanted a laptop, I would have said, "nah."

Now I can't function without it's warm little-self on me-self.

So, I have been sneaking a peek when I have a break at work..Shhhhhhhh...

But I wanted you to know I haven't become all of a sudden rude or forgetful or ditzy..hmmm..I guess 2 outta 3 ain't bad, huh?

So the umbilical-cord should be here on Thursday and I'll scurry to catch-up..I don't want to miss a word!

In the meantime, here are some sketches I have been playing around with..

When I used to oil paint, if I couldn't quite see what the problem was, but I knew there was a problem, I used to take it off the easel and hold it up to the mirror..and like magic, I could see what was wrong!

Well, I think my scanner is the new mirror 'cos I can see lots of room for improvement :-)

But, hey, isn't that whet life's all about??

What would you love to improve on? Something fun? What's stopping you?

Finding time is hard..

Making YOU a priority is hard..

Believing in your creativity is hard..

Choose your hard. I know what mine will be :-)

-me

PS- don't forget to pick a word or phrase for my "Stump the Nut" give-away!