SAME TIME, LAST YEAR

I'm in the mood to "muse" this morning. Would you like to "take a walk" with me and my thoughts?

Do you ever stop to think about what you were doing the same time last year? Or two years ago? I think we tend to do this more when we've had significant changes in our lives. As a family, our lives have gone through a few twists and turns the last few years!

It occurred to me yesterday as I was making a new necklace to add to my Etsy shop. Someone suggested to me on the forums that I name it "Hawaiian Sunset" because of the tropical flower pendant I had made, combined with the colors of pink, peach and tangerine orange. I realized that this very day last year we were on our way to the beautiful island of Kauai for a much needed vacation. But that's not all! Last year at this time we had just lost our beloved little kitty named Cleo. We had moved from Washington State to Kansas in March and were just settling into a new house. Well where does that lead to now?

...A total turnaround! It sounds crazy, but we have sold our house and are moving again in a few weeks. Yikes! Talk about twists and turns! There are a lot of things we love about Kansas, but we miss our little town in Northwest Washington more. I will miss the Midwest thunderstorms, the fabulous shopping in Kansas City, the bright sunshine, the many varieties of colorful birds, wide open spaces, the beautiful manicured golf course neighborhood I live in, and mostly being a little closer to my husbands side of the family! I have to say I will not miss the summer heat and humidity, the thunderstorms (I know I said I like them too), the gigantic bugs, the busy traffic, freezing cold winters and a few other things I won't mention, but all in all it has been a great experience for me. I have always lived on the West Coast, either in British Columbia or Washington.

Take a moment and think about where you've been, where you are now and where you'd like to be a year from now. A whole lot can happen in a year. Just ask me, I really, really know!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!

Wishing everyone a safe and fun, Fourth of July! I am a Canadian living in the USA but I can still celebrate the birthday of this wonderful country (yes, I know it has its flaws!). These photos were taken at a fireworks display in our little town of Anacortes, Washington in 2006. For a little town of about 15,000 people they put on quite the display. We would go down to the water with our hot chocolate and popcorn (and blankets!) and see the show.

This year I'll still be in Kansas, but we have reason to celebrate this week because we finally sold our house last Monday after being on the market for 5 months. If all goes well, we'll be back in our beloved little seaside town by August and I'll be down by the bay watching the fireworks in 2009!

As a way of celebrating in my Etsy shop Beadin By The Sea, I have made some "Celebration Earrings". Check it out, you might just find something you can't live without! These earrings are free with a purchase from my shop but only until midnight tonight.

NOTHING BORING ABOUT KANSAS WEATHER

Wow, I must be desperate for something to write about today. But, what a minute, maybe you don't think talking about the weather is boring. I used to, but since moving to Kansas last year I've changed my mind. It is a very fickle thing here. Being in the middle of the country we are subject to the whims of many weather patterns and it can change very quickly. I thought that living on the West Coast was unpredictable, but Kansas has it beat!

I took the picture above around dinner time 5:30 PM yesterday when I noticed it getting dark all of a sudden on an otherwise beautiful, sunny day (86 degrees) although it was a little too humid in my book! I took more pictures as the clouds rolled in, the deluge of rain started and the temperature dropped to around 68 degrees all in the matter of a couple of hours. The storm continued until around 1:00 AM. You wonder how I know the time, and I do because I cannot sleep when there are lights flashing all around me and I hear thunder crashing every few seconds! I always think it's the perfect setting for a scary movie when the villain chases the girl around the house with knife in hand. Pardon, my imagination, I just can't help myself! I wish I could take those really cool pictures at night where you see the lightening cracks in the sky, but I'm too scared to step outside and now I know why.

I learned this morning that a fuel tank in Kansas City, Kansas holding about 1.2 million gallons of unleaded fuel was on fire since early Wednesday after being stuck by lightening. Isn't that ironic? With all the focus on the prices of fuel these days a fuel tank blows up. At $3.87 a gallon that's a ton of money! You can figure it out, it's too mind - boggling to me!

Nope, I've decided that weather is definitely not a boring subject!

Remember my friend the toad, from an earlier entry (see 05/17). Well, I guess he has at least two other pals because I saw them stuck in the window well last night. I had to wait until morning because of the storm but as you can see by this one's face he was pretty happy to be out of there!

We woke up to a beautiful, bright sunny day as you can see in the picture. I wonder what tonight will bring?

EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE DAYS...?

When you just want to bury yourself and hide? A toad that visited our house yesterday certainly did. I was alerted to his presence outside our basement window by our cat Ace who was carrying on about something. I looked outside and there was a big toad crawling around, apparently stuck in the 5 foot drop below ground on some rocks. The toad must have been happily leaping along (or whatever toads do) and gone for a very steep dive down into this window well. Being such a "girly girl" that I am I wasn't about to mess with a toad! And anyway I was rushing around trying to get my house ready for a showing as we are in the middle of selling it. So when I got back from my errands, there was the toad, hunkered down in the rocks, probably waiting patiently to die.

I couldn't believe how easily he gave up. Was it just lack of determination on his part or was it actual intelligence knowing that he did not have the power to leap over 5 feet to freedom? Was he conserving his energy in the shade to try again later? Since my husband was coming home soon, I thought that a "Toad Rescue" would be the perfect job for him once he arrived! My toad rescuer climbed down the wooden ladder bucket in hand and coaxed our new four legged friend into it. He gently set him down on the grass. Oh my, what a beautiful toad he was! He did look a little grumpy and seemed to be saying "What took you so long!" I must say I've never had the privilege of a visiting toad in my yard. Of course, in my year in Kansas, we have had seen some very interesting critters and some who look like they're on steroids. But I digress, that could be used for another post!

So back to my original question. Have you ever had one of those days? Do you easily give up like our friend, Mr. Toad? I know sometimes I feel like I want to. Perhaps you may just want to conserve your energy and wait it out? Is that so bad? And then other times you just need a helping hand or a little nudge to get you started merrily on your way.

This little amphibian made me think about a lot of things. Funny how a silly toad can make you sit up and take stock and really wonder how much fight there is in you? Many of us have someone in our lives that is willing to help us out if we get up the nerve to ask! Thankfully we have the ability to do that, not just sit there like a toad to wait it out and possibly succumb to our circumstances!

WELCOME SPRING!

Spring has finally sprung!
I took my own advice and took some time this weekend to look at what’s happening in the garden. I love these daffodils with the orange center and yellow petal. Simply stunning! When I lived on the west coast my favorite season was summer because the temperatures were pleasant and not too hot, but here in the Midwest it’s definitely Spring that gets me excited. Around March I get so tired of brown grass here because I'm used to Washington where the grass stays green year round (except people who don't water in the summer!) In fact here’s a picture showing our front lawn in the middle of March and now eveything is gloriously green and I mean bright green! Have a great day and enjoy all the Spring colors!