I have been tending to sick children this week and I am not so fortunate to have escaped the flu bug either. Rats!

So today is really the first day I got back on the computer and had around 70 emails to field. Who can work with all that busyness? I had to go through them too.

An interior is the natural projection of the soul - Coco Chanel

I was just admiring my bookcases in my office when I saw this quote.

I am so taken with the different grains in the wood - birch and pine. What a combination! Rustic and refined. They aren't stained just urethaned to show the wood's natural beauty. I like it like that. The desks are all pine. They are somewhat cluttered but I'm still working on the simplicity thing. I think better when there isn't anything to be picked up or put away.

"Every room in your home can tell a riveting tale about the extraordinary woman who graces it with her presence." Sarah Ban Breathnach.

I like that too. I would like to think that someday my children will sit in my home and wonder about their mother. What she thought of as she gazed upon those lovely book cases? Will they believe me to be extraordinary? I hope so.

Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever. - Isak Dinesen

It's very cold here. I just got off the phone with my sister, Cindy. She's going through a difficult time and neither one of us can really understand what the lesson is and why she continues to have these struggles.
Do you ever feel like no matter which way you turn everything and everyone is against you? I've been there. Sinking under the surface, trying to tread water to just keep your head up. Maybe not as bad as others have had it but I too have had many lessons. Some I've learned from and some I'm still having to get beat into my head.
All I know is that there is a beautiful life going on around me and we deserve a big chunk of it. The time will come for all of us , my time, so will Cindy's, and so will yours.

Sarah Ban Breathnach says you can't stop waiting for life to become perfect. You have to work with what you have right now to make it as satisfying as you can. Accept where you are, bless it, give thanks to God and get going. Procrastination has robbed us of too many precious opportunities. Today we can move from lack to abundance. Even in this cold, dreary season we can have abundance. But we have to seek it first.


The first steps in the journey are always the most difficult to take.

"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that we become rich" - Sarah Bernhardt

We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become. - Ursula K. Le Gruin

So I am trying to get in a short post today. I have actually been working today. Can you believe it? I purchased these very cool file storage boxes at Walmart and I am freeing myself of these horrible filing cabinets that take up too much space.
I'm trying to get into simplicity here. Hang with me awhile. So I spent the morning doing new tabs and inserting them onto the hanging folders. Is there anything more tedious than that? Well I am slowly putting in the clutter that has accumulated (you know, you have it too!). I found this fabulous birthday card from my Grandma Wilson. Well, she was actually my ex's grandmother but she loved me just like I was her own.
So the text was beautiful and at the end she put "Do take care love xxxxx Sandra" More xxx's then her signature. How precious is that?! I don't recall my real grandmother ever being so sweet and loving. What a shame that this precious person passed away. I miss her so for she loved me so unconditionally. I'm sorry my children will never know her and this great capacity she had for love. God Bless you Gramma Wilson.

I was trying to read "The Hobbit". Very difficult - strange style of writing that Tolkien had.
Anyway, I left it on my bedside table and decided to check out "The Lord of the Rings" instead. Much better and simpler to read. It better be for over 1000 pages!!!
Someone must have told Tolkien his writing style in the Hobbit sucked or something. The story is off to a much better start.

I was told I must be insane to be for reading a book this size.
No offense to the snarky comment maker but most of the time I would rather be reading a great book. And if this book reads anything like the movies play then I'll be through it in no time. Unfortunately I have lots to do with year end things and I do have to spend precious time with my little ones so I'm not able to devote a lazy afternoon to reading as I would like.

Okay. So I just read "The Two Towers" review and it sounds rather fabulous! I, of course, will not see it while it's in the theatres. I'm the mother of twins and it is difficult for me to find someone who will enjoy all this fantasy/lore. So I will wait patiently for it to arrive on DVD and snatch it up! Of course too, I will wait for the extended version, like a good fan. You know there will be one....

Which brings me to this thought. I finally watched the Lord of the Rings extended version. Finally!!! I do have twins (see above).
Did anyone else find the "secret scene" at the council of Elrond or was it just me? It was too much! If not, go back and look through your first DVD to catch it. It's in there if you have the extended version.



Who is your Ideal Lord of the Rings (male) Mate?
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"It is inevitable when one has a great need of something, one finds it. What you need you attract like a lover." - Gertrude Stein

I was reading for probably the 3rd or 4th time the book "Simple Abundance" by Sarah Ban Breathnach. If you have never read this book I highly recommend it. It is a daybook, meaning it is written with only a small passage for each day of the year.

Sarah says that it is only after we acknowledge our inner needs that we can harness the creative energy necessary to manifest them in our lives.

"Happiness is not a possession to be prized. It is a quality of thought, a state of mind". - Daphne Du Maurier.

Happiness is an inner need. Something we crave yet sometimes can't put our fingers on it.
Sarah says that happiness the world can't take away only flourishes in the secret garden of our souls. By tending to this inner garden and uprooting the weeds of external expectations, we can nurture our authentic happiness. Happiness is a living emotion.

What awesome thoughts for today.

Okay so we haven't even touched on Princess Diana yet. I was just browsing at the Althorp site and it reminded me. The site is pretty nice. I have purchased a few items from their store and all of them were great quality. The information is great.

However, I do think her brother, Charles, is hawking the family name/estate. But he is not doing anything that anyone else who had contact with Diana hasn't already done and will continue to do.

I just read that James Hewitt is "not beyond selling" his private letters from Diana. Money is the root of all evil. Truly.

Lady Diana Frances Spencer - She was a kindred spirit to me and many others.

My daughter is named, Diana Frances, after her. That was the best way I could show her honor. She touched my life. I gave my daughter her name because during her life, Diana desperately wanted a little girl. I hope she sees my little girl from where she is. That's why I call my daughter "Princess".
I have spoken to various people who felt more sorrow at her death than at the death of their real loved ones. Shocking yes. But she was such a real person in the spotlight. Everyone could relate to her; she may have been dressed in Chanel suits and carrying Louis Vuitton bags but she too felt like us; unloved by the one she desired, she had a poor self esteem, she had bad days too. I think that's why she was so real to so many. She was our friend and sister.
I miss her.

It is difficult to experience moments of happiness if we are not aware of what it is we genuinely love - Sarah Ban Breathnach

What it is we genuinely love.
What an expression. What a great way to make you think. What do I really love? Whom do I really love? Well I guess I would tell you I love both of my children and my dog.
What else? What a great thing to think on. I'm going to leave with these wonderful lyrics by one of my all time favorites, Madonna. I was listening to her Greatest Hits Volume 2 the other day and the song "Secret" just seemed to stay with me.

It's true, you know. Nothing in my life has been the same since I've had love in my life. Since I got my dog, Mookie and he showed me perfect, unconditional love. And my children, Dave Brian and Diana, who give me a precious love unlike any other on this earth. Evidence of God if anyone ever doubted His existence. So here are the words. Think about the secret as true love...

Things haven't been the same, since you came into my life.
You found a way to touch my soul and I never, ever, ever want to let it go.
Happiness lies in your own hands. It took me much too long to understand. How it could be?
Until you shared your secret with me.

Today I have to take the twins for their 2 year check up. My sister in law has offered her assistance. I am very grateful. She says I need to ask more often for help. Hmm...she could be right. I don't like to ask for help though. It's not really a part of my personality.

And besides, I like being with my children so much. Dave Brian and Diana are so sweet and fun. They remind me that everyday, every moment is right here. Not what's going to happen tomorrow, not what happened yesterday. Right here. Right now. No worries and no cares. God is good.

I have to tell you yesterday while I was making dinner, I had my turned on my new radio in the kitchen. The Sade Greatest Hits cd was playing and "Smooth Operator" came on. Both Dave Brian and Diana began to dance - it was so sweet. Now Diana actually has rhythm while Dave Brian is having to learn it from his mother. It was wonderful. I kept looking around the kitchen thinking it was the perfect size for dancing so my children and I continued to dance around. What a wonderful afternoon.

I was reading this the other day and it struck me as something wonderful to add here. It is from the book "Romancing The Ordinary" by Sarah Ban Breathnach. She was basically admonishing the whole "New Year Resolution" thing because we set ourselves up for failure usually before the month of January even ends! Anyway, here's the thought. Enjoy. Buy the book, you won't regret it.

Pretend you've never been given the gift of a new year before. Dame Good Fortune has swept in with her arms full of presents just for you. In a little book that I cherish, Ceremonials of Common Days, written by Abbie Graham in 1928, she describes her annual visit this way:

"I open the door. The gorgeous guest from afar sweeps in . In her hands are her gifts-the gift of hours and farseeing moments, the gift of morning and evenings, the gift of spring and summer, the gift of autumn and winter. She must have searched the heavens for boons so rare."

So I've had a busy morning but I keep thinking I might finally watch Lord of the Rings extended movie today. Why? It's snowing. It very seldom snows here in Maryland. At least in comparison to the Midwest! So what should you do on a snow day... watch movies!
Or a movie that may take all day.

Hi there! This is my little place on the big web. I'm not exactly sure what will be here but I thought it would be a good spot to do some sort of venting for my health. Good and bad! I want to leave this off with a favorite passage of mine. It's something I think about often and I believe it resonates in everyone somehow. Enjoy and I'll be back soon!

If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have the time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi?
Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds?
Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary?
For each one of us, there is a desert to travel.
A star to discover.
And a being within ourselves to bring to life.

Author Unknown