HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013

Join me as I bid farewell to 2013 and eagerly welcome 2014. Each of you has enriched my life and I am so thankful to be sharing this time and space with you. Let's take time to look back on the year past and reflect on what was…learn and grow from those experiences. Now let's look ahead to all the adventures awaiting us. May 2014 be a wonderful year filled with friends, family, and fun!

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Holidays at the Hollow 2013

Stop and sit for 10 minutes; put your feet up and join us here at "The Hollow" for a holiday celebration.

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THANKSGIVING 2013

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Whole Foods Fun

What fun at our behind-the-scenes tour!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Savannah, GA

Change...

No one likes change but a wet baby...Why? Change is hard. However, in order to change my body, I have to change my thinking. I need to rescript my self-image. When I hit record on my self-talk and then play back the recording, what do I hear? Too often it is negative: I am old...I am fat...I am wrinkled...I am plain...I am ...I am...I am...

The list of negative descriptors goes on and on. So, my first challenge is how to rewrite the messages I send myself. Why? Because everything that follows, " I am..." Is manifested in my life. What are some positive statements? I am capable... I am organized... I am trustworthy... I am kind...I am efficient.

Hmmm...closer, but still not on target. These are more about what I do than who I am. Let's try again. I am lovable...I am smart...I am pretty. Okay...those sound better. Problem is, intellectually I believe them, but emotionally I am not there yet.

So, what is the solution? Make these statements a mantra. Repeat them until they become part of my emotional "muscle memory". Like an athlete, I will keep practicing until it becomes the norm.
Cheers!

One Month...

Health...the possibilities are so much clearer now that I have the necessary knowledge to make smart choices. Knowlege is power. I am beginning to feel more at home with my pantry and my fridge. 

I sat down today at lunch and was so pleased to see the beautiful, crisp salad in front of me. I'm learning to love finding new flavors of herbal tea. 
I get so excited when I find a new food to try on my trips to the grocery store...those trips feel a bit like a scavenger hunt...FUN!

It feels so good to feel good!

Going Gluten-Free

For months I have not been well...not sick, just not well. I finally decided to go to the doctor. Lots of tests later, I left the doctor's office feeling a bit shell-shocked. The source of my problem seemed to be food...the wrong food! So I am making the journey to health. There are days when I feel like I am climbing a mountain and other days when I seem to be careening down a slippery slope. YIKES!!!
I will try to document my journey to health. My first problem ~ now that I know what I can't eat, how do I make sense of what I can eat?
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Location:Fox Hollow Cir,Hinesville,United States

Merry Christmas 2011

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Beautiful, not Barren!

Every time I head to New Mexico I am amazed at the landscape. I live in south Georgia where it is hot, humid, lush, green, mosquito-filled, and slow moving. New Mexico is where the rest of my family lives.  As I fly into the Albuquerque Airport I always marvel at how brown the landscape appears. However, in spite of its seemingly drab appearance, the desert is anything but boring or barren. It is dotted with some of the most amazing structures nature has ever produced.

The days are hot and dry, but at the end of the day, the sun sparkles off the desert sands and produces some of the most breath-taking sunsets I have ever seen. That sunset is sort of your reward for suffering through the heat of the day.

I love New Mexico because my family is there, but also because God's paintbrush swept across it in a most wonderful way.

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Desert Delights!

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The Summer of TapFish

Okay, I admit it, this may be one of the silliest things I have EVER done! Yup, it's right up there with licking the frozen flagpole and sticking your tongue in the electric socket! What is it? TapFish. So, "What is TapFish?", you ask. Let me tell you. This summer I have spent a whole lot of time tapping my iPad while caring for a huge school of virtual fish. Yes, you hear me correctly, virtual fish.

I have fish in all colors, shapes, and sizes. They need to be fed and loved. They need to have clean, sparkling tanks. I am busy doing all of that while making big (virtual) bucks buying and selling fish, plants, and more.

Last summer I made a trip to the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, and the Petrified Forest. This summer I tapped. My niece commented that she had a virtual pet when she was in the third grade. Emphasis was on the fact that she was nine years old. I'm slightly older than that, so what's my excuse?

No excuse; I just find it fun and relaxing. So here's to the summer of TapFish. Check it out!

Larry the lobster

Here I am with Larry who is depressed sitting in death row; don't blame him! I promise not to order his untimely demise.








-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Jonesboro

What were they thinking?

There’s something about the airport that just gets me thinking. I have always been a “people watcher”, and what more ideal people watching spot than the middle of the Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta? This is one of the biggest and busiest airports in the world. It is just crawling with people all milling about. They’re rushing from one flight to the next, hustling to make connections, talking on the phone, eating lukewarm fast food on the run, and doing all this while dragging half their earthly possessions behind them in luggage on wheels.

But, I digress. Back to my original thought – there’s just something about an airport. Somehow with all the bustling about folks get lulled into thinking they are invisible. Where were their families and friends when they got dressed this morning? I guess these fashion failures figure if they don’t know anyone it doesn’t matter how they look.

Today the airport promenade was like a parade of bad fashions I’ve lived long enough to regret! Let’s see… first, who stitches madras triangles into old, torn up blue jeans to create bell bottoms? No one I’ve known since 1966 when I was listening to the Mamas and Papas. Beehive hairdos? Haven’t seen one in years! Saw one today…still looks like a ratty mess!

Furry lavender sweater clips? Who knew! “It can’t be so!” you’re thinking, but sadly, it is. I remember my mom wearing sweater clips back in the 1950s and I even had a pair of mink ones when I was about ten (1958). I thought I was the neatest thing since sliced bread! However, that was 52 years ago. I think this person was trying to channel June Lockhart! (You’re too young to know who she is. You can look her up or make a mental picture of the cast of Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, or Lassie). I just can’t imagine where she would have gotten them…antique store? eBay? Aunt Millie’s junk drawer? That will remain a mystery.

Oh, and when was the last time you saw someone go out with curlers in their hair? Not just curlers, but the ones the size of soup cans! Let’s see, what else did I see? Well, there was the “Bedazzler Gone Bad!” pair of blue jeans. I can’t imagine how she sat down. Her behind was covered with the sparklers. Her butt must feel like a pin cushion. And then, just to round out the day, there was the florescent blue eye shadow. Now that’s a real fashion statement...from the 1970s when I was listening to Jethro Tull and the Moody Blues while wearing my way cool madras insert bell bottoms!

Don’t you just LOVE the airport!

SHOW AND TELL FOR ADULTS

When I was a little girl I used to love Show and Tell; Show and Tell was on Friday and I couldn't wait to see what everyone would bring. Meanwhile, I would worry all week about what I should pack up and lug off to school that day.

The kids in my class brought in lots of cool stuff...stuffed animals missing an ear, dolls with hideous hair sticking up or falling out, shiny new galoshes, a rhinestone necklace from the carnival, a gerbil that bit somebody, a hideous lime green sweater knitted by someone's grandma...the list goes on and on.

In spite of all the ridiculous stuff, we just loved getting a sneak peak into the lives of our friends. And at the same time we loved deciding what little tidbit of our lives we would share each week.

Travel forward fifty years...here I am doing the same exact thing! Yup, Facebook is really just Show and Tell for adults. Admit it, you love looking at the pictures and videos of what's going on in your friends' lives. You love reading and commenting about what's going on with everybody. And I bet I'm right...you like deciding what to share on Facebook.

We are social animals and our connections are so important. Those connections reassure us that we are "okay". So, to all my friends on Facebook...keep sharing. I love feeling close to you even though so many of you are far away!

What a "latte" fun!

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It's date night and after 39 years of marriage I still look forward to spending time with the hubs. So, what does old people dating entail,you ask? First a trip to Fresh Market; nothing screams romance like squeezing tomatoes together, right? Next is a yummy dinner at our favorite sushi bar. The night is topped off with a cozy cup of Joe. Nothing better!

Location:Savannah,United States

SOCIAL ANIMALS

Sitting in the middle of the “holding pen” at the airport this afternoon I was struck by the level of noise…human noise. I tend to keep to myself. I’m one of those folks that follow the rules…you know, those unwritten rules like, “You don’t talk in elevators.”

However, that rule definitely does not apply to airports. Complete strangers all around me were striking up conversations, “Where are you headed?” “Where are you from?” “Who are you visiting?” “Have you been there before?” “Let me show you pictures of my ______(fill in the blank: grandbaby, dog, Halloween costume…).

Apparently the airport is a place where it is acceptable to talk non stop to people you don’t know about stuff that nobody really cares about. What drives that behavior? Why do we have such a strong need to connect with those around us? Does the shared human experience reassure us that we’re “okay”? What is it about the temporary circumstance of waiting at an airport, sitting at the stadium, or standing in line at Disney World that makes us open up?

THE MANHUNT AT HARTSFIELD

I hate to fly, but I love the airport! I have always loved watching people, and the Atlanta airport is teeming with people milling all over like an army of ants.

Today while sitting in the airport, I was on a mission. I just finished reading a steamy romance novel. I looked around the airport and realized this was like hitting the jackpot when it comes to male watching. Yup…on a mission.

In the novel I just read, the hero was 6’5” tall, über-muscular, and gorgeous. He had a full head of luscious black hair and piercing blue eyes. I figure, what better place to spot him or someone like him than at a huge airport like Hartsfield.

Well, let me tell you who I spotted…short men, fat men, tall men, skinny men, bald men, men in suits, men with their pants hanging down below their underwear (eee-eee-www!!!), and even a man in red and white plaid Bermuda shorts, a wild pink floral Hawaiian shirt, a straw hat, sneakers, and black socks. Obviously he was single!

But, among all those hundreds and hundreds of men I looked at today, none looked like they just stepped off the pages of my romance novel. And so I guess that’s why it’s called FICTION.

My Soap Opera Weekend...

Here I am in Emerson, just North of Atlanta. It is early October and it is a beautiful Autumn day! Having left Savannah weather behind, I am surprised at how cold it feels here in the mountains. Cyrus and I are staying with my wonderful friends, Bobby and Chris. Their home is exquisite and Chris has made everything just perfect. The guest room is gorgeous, all done in silver, black, and white. My towels are tied with a bow, there are bottles of Perrier waiting in the guest bath. Every amenity is in place...there were even chocolates waiting by the bed. Chris just has that "something extra" that turns an ordinary visit into something that I think I would see on a soap opera. Candles are lit, appetizers are tastefully arranged in beautiful autumnal serving dishes, crisp white wine is chilled and ready to serve, and the view from her patio is breathtaking...yup, I died and woke up in the middle of General Hospital. She has made this a wonderful memory that I will store away and pull out whenever I need to feel peaceful, blessed, and just happy. I'm posting some pictures so you can share the fun with me. Enjoy the slideshow above.

FACES…from the time we are born, we respond to faces around us. Why do we respond so positively to some faces? I think it is because when those faces look at us, we feel loved and safe. Some faces just make us feel like we belong. Those faces belong to the people in our lives who bring us the greatest joy or pride and sometimes the greatest sadness or disappointment. Here are some of the faces in my life that make me smile, laugh, giggle, or cry.

FACES SMILING AT ME...