A Moment of Healing & Grace

Tonight President Obama gave all of us moments of healing and grace: the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them. May we all reflect on this tragedy and move forward with love.

The Benefits of a Good Computer Desk Chair

Beautiful, it isn't; but, very serviceable, it is! My desk chair and I spent a long day together catching up on preparing some documents for a couple of organizations and doing some last minute work on three parties for the Claremont Community Foundation's Party Parade 2011 - which, by the way, promises to be a super fun series of events & parties for all ages. Watch for your book in the mail! If you don't usually get one, contact the Foundation at the link I've included and get on the list. You'll be so glad you did!

Through the years I've looked into all types of chairs. No doubt many of you have tried out the one where you put your knees on a pad and rest on a "seat." I might break a leg and an arm getting out of the chair. Maybe my nose would even suffer in the header I would probably take.

There are some wonderfully looking armchair-like desk chairs that I think would lull me to sleep in an instant.


This one is "Beam me up, Scottie!" to the max!

Eating at Nordstrom's

For a real treat, go to the Cafe on the 2nd floor in Nordstrom's at Montclair (no, this picture isn't the one at Montclair, but you get the idea) and have one of their delicious salads (mixed berry chicken or cilantro lime chicken - two of my favorites) or sandwiches or full meal entrees. In fact, you will have to go more than once to taste several of their absolutely delectable offerings.

If dessert is an absolute must, they have marvelous HUGE cookies (the chocolate chip ones are delicious) and lemon bars and other tempting treats. The brewed coffee smells delicious! They have cleverly managed to cover most of THE top choices for salad or sandwich or full meal fare foodies. Don't miss dining there soon!

Christmas Collage

Here is a Christmas Collage of the Christmas Celebrations that concluded with our annual gift opening at our home on December 26. We began with our traditional breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, Nell's amazingly delicious buttered and toasted bread (Nell's bread has been a part of our celebration for 24 years! Yay, Nell!), orange juice, milk, & coffee. Unbeatable! Then we open our gifts. It's a special and fantastic time for everyone.

Christmas Cards & Books by Robert Sabuda

If you have ever been awed and amazed by pop up art, the work of Robert Sabuda is not to be missed. His pop up children's books like Beauty & the Beast, Peter Pan, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and ABC Disney are glorious works of art. The intricacy of the paper engineering makes the scenes magically spring to life as you turn the pages. Children are enchanted and enthralled by the 3-D aspects of the books. Adults are in awe of the talent behind these almost magical scenes. Don't wait another day! Discover the wonder of his art for yourself.

Gift Giving - "The Rose Approach"

Each year I squirrel away in the back of my closet items that I buy whenever I see the "perfect" gift for someone. Then, in early December, I bring out all of these goodies to see what all I have collected. There are always delightful "surprises" that I "disremembered," as one child used to say. Then, I take my list and match the gifts to the recipients. I think I must smile the whole time because I LOVE to give gifts. Whether the recipient is as thrilled as I am is to be hoped for, but it's not a necessity. My daughter & daughter-in-law are so helpful with suggestions for the grandkids. Susan sends an email with the actual links to each gift included. Talk about "easy shopping." Thanks, Susan! We draw names among the adults in our family, and it is expected that each person will send a list of assorted items he/she would like to have. It is nice to get something that you particularly wanted. So, we all open our gifts at various times around Christmas Day, and there are a lot of phone calls and smiles and celebration from receiver to giver. It's also a heartfelt pleasure to "gift" people with a donation made to various charities both local and international through a program so many churches have: "Alternative Christmas." All of us have so much that it's good to share with those who truly need the goods or the services. The announcements of those donations connect both of us with those receiving the gifts.

RAINY, Rainy, rainy Days - ALL DAY !

We are having unusual weather for us here in Southern California. It is raining! I don't mean a little shower or some misty stuff. I mean RAIN! The pool is full, the gutters in the streets are full, and the storm drains are overflowing. Somewhere along the way as all of this flows toward the ocean, there's got to be an amazing amount of water. We don't have the mud worry that those in the burned areas have. We don't have the flood problems because we have a good dam that handles the water coming down from Mt. Baldy & the Foothills. We just have a lot of soggy everything. My heart goes out to those who are really affected by all of this. So "quit yer gritchin'!" Okay. I did get a lot done by staying inside. Now, "that's a good thing," as Martha would say!