Old People

Mr. Herring is one of the 'old people' I take care of.

I love my 'old people' and I hope they don't mind

that I call them that, 'cause it makes

me smile.

He getting up there, turns 90 this year.

I first met him 10 years ago, he has

a prankster, ornery attitude

that makes people

feel like they just

want to pull up a chair to sit a spell.  

He has Alzheimer's

now, so the stories 

are always the

same...but as

my grandpa often said,

 "you've probably heard this before, 

but it bears repeating!"

(He told the same stories a lot too)

I had the privilege of taking

him to the symphony in

the park on the 4th of July.

He rarely goes out

any more, but he was so

excited to go.

We ended up staying for 3 1/2 hours

I couldn't believe it...he was

having so much fun listening

to the music, and of

course, we had to stay

for the 1812 Overture,

because there were real

canons going to go off!

 He even met the canoneer after!

It makes me miss my daddy, no where

near 90, but I think that's why

I like taking care of old people,

my daddy's gone now and

my mama lives in Oregon, so

I take care of people in

honor of them.

Mrs. Herring is a cutie patootie.

Her birthday was a few weeks

ago and I took her a crown for her party!

Isn't she so cute!

She use to be my kid's piano teacher

and though we rarely hear

her play now, on

her birthday she

gave it a go.

We gathered around

to sing.

Her gnarled hands hitting plenty

of wrong notes, but no one

cared...because Mrs. Herring played.

I've taken to praying with her

when we do things that

are hard...and

singing to her too.

The first time I sang, I felt a little

silly, but I knew it was the

right thing to do...

and after we did the 'hard thing,'

Mrs. Herring

smiled.

Oh and here's a funny story...

Mrs. Herring likes

to kiss goodbye on

the lips...I 

usually just shake Mr. Herring's hand

but one day I went in for a hug...

and he gave me

a raspberry!

And there's Jerry...she's

discouraged.

A lot.

Sometimes when I visit her

she's very sad but

by the time I'm ready

to go I see her

smile.

But not lately.

I've told her I miss it.

I prayed out loud for God

to help her find her smile

 (I've never really liked praying out loud, so I am

 reminded when

I do that it's what my parents would always

do when they left someone's house after

visiting and that makes me feel happy... to be like them.)

Will you pray for her with me?

One day, before the

sadness became huge,

I took her out to

the Goodwill.  Oh my goodness,

it was like taking a kid to the

candy shop....I even had to

give her a 10 minute warning

to leave or we'd have been

there all day!

When she goes out,

she says she feels like she's escaping...

she lives in a retirement home.

Do you see them?

Old people?

Sometimes when I visit

my mom in Oregon, seeing

the folks in her retirement

home reminds me

that I need to really look at them

in their eyes, because

really seeing people matters...

No matter how old they are.

Many of them are 

forgotten

and they don't look at people

in the eyes.

And that's

just too sad.

Find an old person soon would you?

Look them in the eye and

listen, even if you've heard

their story 

before,

maybe even

hold their hand

and pray for them.

Look for smiles

'cause sometimes

those get lost.

Blessings,

Deedee

Great Show!

Had a great show yesterday at Vera's House Beautiful in Loveland.  Nice to reconnect with old friends and meet a few new ones.

 This farm table turned out beautifully!  Thanks Rhonda for 

all your hard work.  Originally pulled from a filthy outbuilding

in eastern Colorado, boy was it beaten up.

The funny red cow 

and the headless chicken statue

brought many smiles.

 My new 'welcome' signs were so

fun to paint.

 Stylish in her vintage slip!

 I have a quote I use on signs that cracks me up...

This woman had it tattooed on her!

"I ain't afraid to love a man,

I ain't afraid to shoot him either!"

Annie Oakley

Shows are a lot of work, but it was

a 'feel good' exhaustion at the end of the day.

Bonjour Happiness!

Hello Friends,

It has been a long couple of months 

since I've written.

I live in an area

affected by the recent floods, in fact

today, my high schoolers just

got to go back to school at Lyons

High School.  Driving

past the mud, piles of debris

and devastation this morning, I am

thankful.

I am thankful for the Blessings.  The community and the school bonded

together in helping one another.  Relief workers came and many

are still here. I got the blessing of an extra teenager for a couple

months too!  

So in the bustle of life these past couple of months,

I am reminded that the Blessings come in many forms...in the piles of laundry,

in the pleasure of having teens in my life, in the teaching of Sunday School,

the substitute teaching, the leaf piles, a cup of coffee, Pandora radio, 

a day to myself, furniture rearranging, a little baby that

came and turned the world upside down, so many

blessings to reach out and touch~

And time to create.

Here's a sampling of what I've been up to.

I call them 'Snow Biddies.'

Snow gals and guys with

personalities!

That's Mrs. Beachy above

and Bertie here.

I am having a blast making them.  You can find them at

http://www.magicfairycandles.com/   

in Longmont.

I've also been working on

making French Hens.

Birds I've paper mache'd out

of old French textbooks, with

pearl eggs, banners and

yep, glitter.

Here's Gertie.

Thanks

http://theadventuresofbluegirlxo.blogspot.com/

for the inspiration to dye those little trees.

They look perfect snuggled

up next to the Snow Biddies.

Here's Frenchie.  Okay, did I say how 

much fun I was having?  I love

giving them names too!

Making bird nests with Morning Glory vines and glitter.

Okay, my pictures aren't exactly in order, but you get 

the idea.  I am thankful for the blessing

of creativity and time to play,

it meets a need in me.

In tweaking a line from Chariots of Fire,

"God made me artistic and when

I create I feel his pleasure!"

Remember to look for blessings.

God is in the details,

joyously,

deedee

Brighten the Corner Where You Are

Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,

Do not wait to shed your light afar,

To the many duties ever near you now be true,

Brighten the corner where you are.

Refrain

Brighten the corner where you are!

Brighten the corner where you are!

Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar;

Brighten the corner where you are!

Here for all your talent you may surely find a need,

Here reflect the bright and Morning Star;

Even from your humble hand the Bread of Life may feed,

Brighten the corner where you are.

are you brightening your corner?

or filling it with complaining,

adding to the discord around you?

I was.

I'm ready to get 

back to brightening my corner

'cause drama and negativity

don't do anyone

any good.

even if you didn't start it.

even if...

you can let it go.

get back on track.

back to 

brightening.

those small moments

and gestures can

mean the

world.

someone 

needs

your smile 

and

encouragement

today.

blessings,

deedee

drama

I am weary

of the 

drama

of the ex.

for a week and a half

it's been barf

after

barf.

then today

i read in

my 

daughter's

 devotional

book 

and it said

be thankful.

in this.

and

at the end

of the day.

i am thankful.

that i no

longer live 

in the 

drama

on a daily

basis.

we have

peace.

we have

laughter.

we have

joy

and

hope

and

marvel.

i am

thankful.

i am

free.

i can give

up

the 

drama

i don't

have to

participate

in it.

i

 can

choose

peace,

joy,

contentment.

Lord.

this

drama

sucks.

it is

emotionally

draining

me;

i give

it

to 

You.

and ask

kindly

for

the

stamina

and

courage

to

live

free.

Art Show

My daughter

had an 

Art Show

last night.  She has

been burning the

midnight oil, framing and matting

her photos and painting other

works of art.

She is gifted in

so many ways and has

a heart that yearns

to seek after God, live

in peace and 

minister to others.

What a

BLESSING

it has been

to get to be her mamacita.

Way to go dear one!

I love your whole face.

Mama

Her Happy Heart

I have been teaching as a

long term sub for the

last three weeks.

I have been

challenged

and 

have learned so stinkin' much!

I am working with

children who have

special needs

and yes,

there have been

some days

I wanted to cry,

but it has taught me several

very important things...

1.  Be direct in simple terms.

This one actually has helped me in parenting

my own teenagers...in fact one day

my 15 year old son looked at

me and said, "You looked like you really meant that!"

Yep, I needed that lesson.

2.  Celebrate the simple victories!

and

my favorite...

3.  Be a 'bucket filler.'

If you  haven't read the Bucket books,

they are a must!  

4.  Treat students as smart and valuable people, no matter their level

of 'smartness.'

There is a 5th grade teacher I have had the privilege of

observing on several occasions, she so gently

brings the students back to what they

are supposed to be doing,

while at the same time making them

feel like successful little people.  What a gift she has.

5.  Have a happy heart!

This is my favorite.  My teammate was setting goals

with her students and modeled it by putting

her own goals up, this was one of her goals.  I love the fact that

she is teaching this very important life skill and showing

by example every single day,

what a happy heart looks like.

"A happy heart is good medicine."

Yeah, it's in scripture too,

so be good to

your soul

and live with a happy heart.

These are photos of some signs

I did recently, I found

some cowgirl

ones that just

reached my funny bone.

Enjoy!

(A glimpse of my painting table.)

It's time to rock it with 

happiness girls!

Blessings,

Deedee

The Joy of being Home

Some images from travelling...

Loved the swim baskets

and light fixtures

made

out of old goodies at 

Hoodoo Antiques in Portland.

At Saturday Market in Portland,

watching the children

play in the

fountain.

 or not play...

This is Tessie, she sits upfront

on her owner's motorcycle

and wears a helmet too!

Looks like she

stopped to pose for me~!

Hunting for words

on this trip...

and cool places to take

some Senior photos

of my daughter.

We stopped to pick blueberries,

I missed it because there were so

many outbuildings on this 

old farm...

as I headed round the bend

on the very bumpy road,

I felt like I was

in an episode of "Picker's."

Oh my, If I could have

hauled things back to Colorado,

I'd have gone "pickin.''

When we ran into another car coming down the hill,

the driver had to pull off road for us to pass.

Then we got to a house with the

chickens hanging out on the porch!

A ragged lookin' child came

to ask us what we were doing

there....he was about 4, 

guess not many people

just pop in!

Time at the beach is always so refreshing.

Just to sit and listen

to the roar

is 

enough.

Well, for me, it is actually snoozin' on the

beach that makes the vacation

complete.

But home...

I love to come home.

blessings,

deedee

Gone to the Beach

Let me tell you about my mama

In the last 8 months,

she's been in the

hospital and

rehab for

a broken hip,

as well as some other

things....

And so imagine my

SURPRISE

when she

said yes,

to the 

BEACH.

 I live 1000 miles away,

so it has been a

DELIGHTFUL

week.

Day 1, looking

at the BEACH

from the top of the

very steep path.

 God gave me the

best gift

EVER

when He

chose 

my mama

for

me.

The best place to be

is most

definitely

the BEACH.

Day 2,

"Sure, I'd like to go

on down to the 

beach for a while..."

Isn't she so cute!

Day 3

Look at her!

And then, "Yes,

I'd like to go on down for

the fireworks!!!"

So not only was she walking in the sand,

she walked in the sand in the

dark, she's 

AMAZING!

blessings,

deedee