Key to being Generous and calm

Saw this on a blog today and thought it worth sharing.

sethgodin.typepad.com

Christmas in Arizona (Or the Beginning of Christmas in Arizona)

Since I grew up in the cold frozen north of Minnesota, all my childhood Christmases involved snow, sledding, skating, and always bundling up to step outside.


I could not imagine that Christmas could be Christmas without the cold and snow.


And now here I am in the sunny south where we never have snow.  And it's okay.


So this is what the beginning of the Christmas season looks like here.

Any snow is the fake variety.  As in the fake snow and polar bears on the 15 foot tree I saw at the restaurant where Doug and I had lunch today.

Gratitude

The people I am grateful for would make a very LONG list.

While Doug's been away I have connected with several wonderful women friends.

I have had times in my life with very few female friends but right now I am incredibly blessed with a lot of supportive, Godly, creative, fun friends.

Thank you, Lord.

Another group of people I am thankful for are my co-workers at Hospice of the Valley.

The people I work with give of themselves day after day 

to support people in the last days of their lives. 

 These are wise, compassionate, supportive, generous, funny, bright people.

I wanted to let them know I appreciate them so I recently gave them each 

a bag of candy corn as a tiny "thank you.'

While the cat's away, the mice will play.

In my case, it should be,

"When the tom's away, the cat will play."

While Doug's been halfway around the world 

I've been working on a few projects.

This window frame came from Mom Davidson's cabin in Minnesota.

We strapped it to the top of the car and drove it home to Arizona one summer.

I added a Picture of Quartz Lake from a backpack trip last summer 
and this is the result.  

A funky, junky, shabby, chippy picture.

(It's 18" x 24.")

And these solid wood $5 garage sale tables....

(which were stained and dirty, though not evident from the photo)

I sanded and chemically stripped, painted and stained. 

 Not satisfied with that look, so more sanding and painting. 

 And then not liking that look either, 

so more painting and sanding and then distressing it some more.

Not sure I'm really loving it and not sure what hubs will think, 

BUT it's certainly way cheaper then the ready-made coffee tables we've seen.

Halloween and Pumpkin Cookies

I'm not exactly sure why, but as a kid I rarely went trick or treating.

It may have had something to do with living out in the country, 

or there may have been other reasons I wasn't aware of.

I do recall a large cardboard skeleton going up on the refrigerator 
at Halloween and staying there for many years.

It was kinda strange but I do recall it became a spiritual illustration: 

this is what we are all like without Jesus in our lives. 

 Just empty skeletons, without life.

In our neighborhood in AZ we always gather on Dave and Nancy's driveway on Halloween 

to celebrate the evening and watch the trick or treaters come by.

For several years Doug borrowed a large popcorn machine and made popcorn for everyone. He left for Israel and places beyond bright and early this morning 
so didn't do it this year.

I made some pumpkin cookies to bring and they were/are delicious.

PUMPKIN COOKIES

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.