News Trend 2016 Ornament of the Year|Actual

Hey, here's an idea for a handmade Christmas ornament.

Cut tiny plastic straws into unmanageably short lengths.

Watch them zing around the room as you do so, and have fun collecting the valuable bits from

under tables

behind the couch

in the corners of the fireplace

on the windowsills

under the sleeping dog.

Good luck with cleaning off all the dust and dog hair, too.

Measure out a long arm's length of thin florist's wire.

Try to not poke out your eye as you cut it off the spool.

Feed the wire this way and that through the tiny straws, following a sequence of increasingly complex diagrams

Try not to kink the wire or it will no longer slide through the straw segments

But don't worry; you can always cut the wires on your mistakes and start over.

Keep some tissues nearby as you may just shed a few tears.

But. If every step of this long and tedious process goes well:

Hold your breath through the final step, as your flat formation of triangles suddenly transforms into a three-dimensional delight.

Hang it on the tree where its airy and mathematically pleasing design stands apart from every other ornament in your collection.

Then sit back down and get to work. Because you are going to need to make ninety-nine more of these angels before you are done.

And every single one will make you smile.

* * * * *

For more Ornament of the Year posts, check these out:

2017

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

News Trend Anatomy Of A Birthday|Actual

When it comes to birthdays, I love to go all out. For my daughters' birthdays,  the sky's the limit. IN the name of birthday fun, we've adventured all over Seattle, eaten cupcakes on the ferry, explored new beaches, chased down favorite restaurant meals, skied Stevens Pass, flown to Cabo. Once I even went to Vietnam for a birthday celebration.

But my birthday is a little bit different.

My birthday comes on New Year's Day, after the long build-up to Christmas, the major pay-out on the twenty-fifth, and another full week of holiday extravagance, not to mention New Year's Eve. This year's festivities leveled up even higher with a much-anticipated homecoming from my Asian-dwelling third-born, who packed back up her suitcase and headed back across the Pacific Ocean to Seoul on the last day of 2017.

Which all goes to show that by the time my birthday rolls around, most of the celebratory air has already been let out of the balloon.

That's fine by me. This year, as usual, I was ready for a relaxing, reflective, restorative birthday and that is exactly what I got.

* * * * *

I slept until I felt rested. I slowly eased into my day by reading, petting my big shaggy dog who was still stretched out lazily across the bed, and wondered about the new year ahead of me..

I found two bouquets of birthday flowers on my nightstand. .

Around one p.M., I went downstairs to discover my husband parked in front of the television. Those college bowl games don't just watch themselves, ya know, so he was doing what was necessary. I ate a sandwich, wandered around the house, made some to-do lists in my head, and took Gracie on a walk.

The sky was blue; the air was crisp and cold.

By early evening, my daughters returned home from their retail workplaces. They pulled off their coats, scavenged for snacks, and told me about their days. Even though it was my birthday, I gave them a break and cooked dinner myself. Just felt like the right thing to do.

I tried a new pasta recipe and it was fantastic.

Then we had cake and presents and one short movie because everyone was tired and facing an early morning next day. By 10:30 p.M., everyone in the family was tucked in bed and sound asleep for the night.

Including Gracie.

* * * * *

And while I will be the very first one to admit that that was a pretty ordinary and uneventful birthday, it was just the one that I wanted and needed. I'm glad I went all out.

News Trend Away On A Sofa|Actual

Yesterday was the twelfth and final day of Christmas.

Please allow me to gaji the close of this festive and holy season with a song.

Ah-h-hem. *clears throat*

^ I do not think my dog is Baby Jesus. But I do think she is ridiculously cute.

Away on a sofa

No crib for a bed

The little lass Gracie

Lay down her sweet head

The star from the ceiling

Looks down where she lay

The little lass Gracie

Asleep on the gray.

And one last time, let me wish you

Merry Christmas

Peace On Earth

and Goodwill To All Men

[and Dogs]

News Trend Confessions Of A Crazy Plant Lady|Actual

Page Doctor Freud.

Dial up the crisis hotline. Or

Cue me up a podcast that will help me learn to cope

Because I have got a serious masalah.

With houseplants.

Allow me to illustrate.

As you walk through my front door, this is what you will see:

A series of four big jungly plants standing in a row and soaking up sunshine along my living room window. Each plant is supposed to be crisp and distinct; the overall effect is designed to be orderly and clean.

However, there is a fatal flaw in the execution of this plan that becomes quite apparent when you look a bit closer.

Several dozen interlopes have wandered in.

Succulents.

Cacti

Trailers

Tree types

You name it

During the dark Pacific Northwest winter, these invaders have all come here seeking a place in the sunny south side window. In order to fit them all in, a second table has been wedged in behind the first, and still  plants overflow onto the floor. Together, they create a muddled, unseemly mess and I don't like how this looks at all.

But let's be honest. These plants didn't walk in here on their own. I stashed them here because they desperately needed more sun than they were getting elsewhere in the house. And as much as I like to pretend that someday I will move them back, I also know that is not true. These plants simply will not thrive anywhere but here, and that gives me a huge dilema.

I have more plants than my house can handle.

Not one or two more plants.

At least twenty too many.*

I hear what you're saying.

Give them away.

Find new owners on Craigslist or pass them out to your friends.

Lots of people would love a free plant.

They will be happy in their new homes

And I see the wisdom of that. But I can't.

They are my children, my gorgeous leafy and sometimes prickly green children, and they love living here in this glorious sunshine.

I can't part with them. But I can't live with them like this either.

And so I contemplate my problem and try out new arrangements and consider buying grow lights, and those are all reasonable ways to resolve this mess.

But here comes the dysfunctional part.

I want to buy more plants.

Oh yes, I do.

And if someone doesn't come and take away my debit card, or possibly break my arm, I'm going out on Monday to buy one more plant.

And when I say one, I probably mean five.

So please, someone tell Doctor Freud to fluff the pillows on his couch and keep the inkblots handy because I truly, desperately need help.

* There are at least ten more interloping plants currently being held in my bathtub upstairs. I don't know what to do with them, either.

* * * * *

In my opinion, you can never have too many succulents, and you can never have too many stories about succulents. Here are a few to choose from:

Court And Kylee's Succulent Party

Succulent Season

Franklin Park Conservatory

Confessions Of A Crazy Plant Lady

Pallet Possibilities

Another Rainy Day

Growing Things

This Is War

All In A Day's Work

Design Dilemmas

Wait For It

Shopping Spree

Saturday Spring Satisfaction

Sprouts

Tiny Tinsel Tree

Biology 101

Little Things

News Trend Good And Right|Actual

"I love to cook, and I love to have all my family around the dinner table." -Julia Roberts

A few years ago, I started another tradition. See those photos at the far end of the table? They are members of our family who were born in January and have now passed on to the next life. I like to have them with me too.

With my third-born back home for a week over Christmas, I quickly and easily slipped back into my old habit of setting six plates on the table. It felt good and right to do so.

Now it's January. Even though my adventuring daughter has long since hopped a plane back to South Korea, I am still setting a place for her. This may seem silly, odd, or downright neurotic to those who do not have offspring living on the Asian continent, but for me, it feels good and right to do so.

I reset the table every night after dinner and swap the plates around so the sixth plate

doesn't get dusty. Because that would be weird.

Her plate silently reminds me that, in time, she will be back. And that too feels good and oh, so right.

News Trend Birthday Roses|Actual

These are my birthday roses.

Now normally, I prefer the simple roses that grow in my garden. Just five or six petals, easy and carefree, they glow in the sunshine and flutter like light-hearted butterflies.

But my birthday roses show me something far more complex. The rows of ruffled petals circle round and round, doubling back on themselves, repeating patterns but never quite the same. Some lie in deep shadow, others fan out into the light. Each petal is different and contributes to the beauty of the overall blossom in its own way. And at the center, a new petal waits, still tightly curled but ready to stretch and grow, adding one more layer of fullness and beauty to the flower.

My birthday roses inspire me to love all the birthdays of my past, and prepare me for an exciting new year to come.

News Trend Wellness Of The Soul|Actual

Eliminating the things you love is not wellness.

Wellness feeds your soul and makes you feel good. -Iman

Here we are, ten days into the new year, and from what I can see, the resolution game is still strong.

Wellness seems to be a hot topic for 2018 resolutions. I'm seeing granola bars and tangerines in my students' family cookie plates and candy dishes, and folks wearing fitbits walking briskly around the neighborhood whom I have never seen before.

And that's good. Diet and exercise matter. I am all for fresh fruit.

But I wonder if there is more to wellness than pulse rates and BMI counts.

To be honest, I'm done beating myself up over the state of my body. I do the best that I can to eat right and exercise, and I am learning to forgive myself for my inevitable imperfections.

I am more concerned with the wellness of my mind and my soul.

Quite by accident, I listened to a podcast yesterday that suggested the following exercise:

Define three things about yourself that have always been true. For a point of reference, look back to who you were in kindergarten, and connect the dots between that person and who you are today.

Here's what I came up with:

1. Visual storyteller

2. Compassionate listener

tiga. Organized doer

The idea is to let those qualities lead you into making decisions about your life. Let them become your own personal North Star, a true and unchanging picture of who you are, and a guide to where you should go. Move in the direction of those parts of yourself; set priorities so that you can not only exercise but grow in these characteristics.

It's been less than 24 hours since I formulated my list but I've already noticed that my head feels clear and more certain. I see which parts of my life connect with this newly defined concept of who I am, and which parts do not. I'm energized to try new things in 2018, confident that I will be able to tell what's good for me, and what's not so good.

To me, this new picture of myself feels like the emotional equivalent of at bite from a fresh, snappy apple. It's only a first step, but my soul feels well indeed