TO FACEBOOK OR NOT TO FACEBOOK?

That is the question.


For years I have avoided the whole Facebook scene.   Friends and relations would ask "Why aren't you on Facebook?  We could keep in touch."  


Did your phone break?  
Did the postal system go out of business?
Do you not have my email address?


These are the questions I would like to ask.  But I don't.


I know it is easier to post little snippets of life on Facebook and instantly you have communicated with dozens or hundreds of people.  It's convenient, multi-tasking, and efficient.  I get it.  But I just wasn't interested.  It is a strange world in which you can friend and de-friend with a click of a button.


So recently my own dear husband, the one who emphatically used the word NEVER and the words, stupid and time wasting when discussing Facebook, has recently joined.  (For business purposes mind you.)  But he decided to drag his wife along too.  I now have a Facebook account that was not set up by me, but by a man in a Singapore hotel room halfway across the world.  Weird!


For the last 24 hours I have been poking around on Facebook and at the risk of alienating many dear friends, I have to say that I'm even more convinced - it is such a bizarre way to communicate.  Too personal, yet not personal at all, at the same time.


Magazine articles, TV shows and experts cry out ... 


        "simplify"  
                              "downsize"   
                                                     "be authentic" 
                                                                                 "cast off excess"
                                                                                                               "live in the moment"


And yet in the past 24 hours my email has been flooded with "notifications"  from people I don't even exchange Christmas cards with.  Everywhere I go people are texting, tweeting  and talking on cellphones and ignoring the people around them.  I realize I'm in the minority here and maybe it sounds harsh but that just doesn't seem like simplifying to me.  And honestly sometimes its OK to lose touch with people.


I'm a nice person but I just don't care that my neighbor, from 2 moves ago, is on her way to Wal-Mart to get milk.  And (sorry honey!) but I don't care to receive a notice that my husband just posted that he likes JAD Speciality CO.  And I think its strange that I can see that my husband's cousin's wife just sent condolences to a friend of her's on the death of one of their relations.  HUH?  WHO?  


Now I realize I may be a hypocrite. I pour out my heart and post personal stories and photos here on my blog that anyone could potentially see.  And I will go ahead and complete my Facebook profile and post a few photos.  I was able to get back in touch with my college roommate Kari last night and it was nice to see her family and receive her personal message.  So maybe Facebook does have redeeming qualities. 


But please "defriend" me if I ever waste your time by letting you know I'm out of toilet paper.

PAPARAZZI

My kids are used to me taking their pictures.
"Oh, is this for the blog?"  they say in a thoroughly bored voice.  


I try to be sneaky and get those candid shots.  Like the other day in Barnes and Noble when I came around the corner to see them all enjoying a book together.  The youngest two in rapt attention.  It was sweet.  I did draw a few looks from other customers however as I crouched behind a book rack and stuck my arm over the shelf of Magic Tree House books to get this shot.  They never knew I was there.

Sometimes they protest because mama paparazzi can be annoying.

"Let me drink my lemonade in peace mama."

Or there is the annoyed look to which I respond "Oh!  Great one Ellie.  I'm definitely using that one on the blog!"

Which is followed by the "Yikes! Is she serious?"  look.

Then the giggle and cute smile I wanted in the first place.  

Blackmail is a wonderful tool.

COLORADO LIGHT

I love the light in Colorado and although I have simple equipment and no training, I love taking pictures of  "the glow".  I do a double take and pull out my camera when I notice the golden light on things.  Every time I walk the trail behind our neighborhood, the mountains create a different scene.  Things are always changing, the light, the cloud formations, the colors of the sky.  It's a wonder of God's creation.


It strikes me as funny that Colorado is known as "Colorful Colorado"  because coming from the East Coast where things are lush green, and my favorite, peonies, azaleas, flowering trees, wild violets and daffodils burst forth with little effort, Colorado is a place of brown and gold with blue skies.  But there is something about the light here that makes everything beautiful.


I am loving our new life here.  Maybe that's why things are glowing.  We are busy, but a good busy not a hectic busy.  I have been absent from my blog and I miss the communication but I don't find it as necessary as when I was so isolated and my blog was my link to society and sanity.

I learned from another blogging mom that there are companies that will publish, in hardcover book form, the contents of your blog.  She does this instead of scrapbooking.  I think this is a fabulous idea.

When you have babies everyone tells you "write it down, those milestones and cute stories, or you will forget".  And you do ... forget.  You forget to write it down, you forget those moments you think you won't.  So I have a new goal here at Yellow Shoe Day - to preserve those moments and thoughts I want to share with my children.  Since I do not have the discipline to stick with a pen a paper journal, that may or may not be appreciated, or even remembered, many years down the road, I will choose the method that gives me instant gratification, pretty pictures and the occasional feedback.  

Hope things are glowing in your neighborhood.

MOMENTS IN TIME

Today I was going to write a cute little post about Barbies and then I turned on my computer and saw a comment waiting from Nancy.  (She is one of those 3 fans I mentioned yesterday, that missed my absence in the blogging world.)  I popped over to Nancy's place and saw that she had written about September 11 and she was encouraging everyone to write down their memories of that day.


We all share those moments that stand still in time rather than blur into one another as so many of our days, months and years do.  Nancy describes the day JFK was shot down to the detail of the chicken salad sandwhich her mother served while they watched it unfold on television.  I remember being in the library in middle school when the space shuttle Challenger blew up.  I can picture the very moment, the curve on the street, the dashboard of my car, the lunch I just ate, when I turned on the radio to hear the announcement that the federal building in my home state of Oklahoma had just been bombed.  


On September 11, 2001 my first born was in his first week of a Mother's Day Out program at church.  I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter and was in the car headed home to prepare the nursery.  My husband had driven to Arkansas on business for the week.  Again it was the radio that informed me of the initial plane crash.  By the time I arrived home and turned on the TV it was clear that America had been changed forever.  Everything was quiet that day.  I picked up my son from church along with dozens of other dazed families.  No one knew what to say or do.  I remember long lines at the gas station over the next couple days.  Like everyone else I watched endless television until I could only wander to bed wondering "What kind of world are my children going to live in?"


Last year my husband and I went on a 4 day trip to NYC.  We had a fabulous time touring the city and all the neighborhoods and landmarks.  We went to the World Trade Center Site.  The most touching thing I saw was the St. Paul's Chapel.  It is Manhattan's oldest public building.  A place where George Washington worshipped.  It is a beautiful old church building surrounded by a gated cemetery.  It is a striking picture in the middle of NYC's financial district and sat in the shadow of the twin towers.  It received almost no damage from the collapse of the towers and served as a haven around the clock for rescue workers.  Part of the church is an exhibit about those terrible days, showcasing photos, flags, firefighters helmets, banners and notes from around the country.  Across one wall was a huge banner from the state of Oklahoma that brought tears to my eyes.

Today, 9 years later, my neighborhood is having a community garage sale, we are headed to a child's pizza party this evening and right now I sit and type whatever thoughts are in my head on a blog.  Life goes on.  There are dates and times, moments and places we all remember.  Some we share such as September 11, others hold personal significance and pass unnoticed to others.  


We are beginning a study at church called the Imitation of Christ.  This week we began by describing moments in life and how they mark our lives and measure time.  We read Max Lucado's words about a most remarkable moment.  

"It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment.  As moments go, that one appeared no different than any other.  If you could somehow pick it up off the timeline and examine it, it would look exactly like the ones that have passed while you have read these words.  It came and it went.  It was preceded and succeeded by others just like it... But in reality, that particular moment was like none other.  For through that segment of time a spectacular thing occurred.  God became man.  While the creatures of earth walked unaware.  Divinity arrived."


I love that description and it speaks to the humility of God, arriving quietly and without fanfare.  So much of what the Bible describes of Christ are little moments, details, the way he spoke or touched someone, the quiet way in which he preformed even miraculous events.


Obviously big moments stick with us and shape our lives but I keep telling myself to remember those little moments too.  The little details that make up our lives in between the big stuff.  That's one of the reasons so many women blog, or journal or scrapbook - to record the little things before they vanish in the blur of life.  I think the artists ability to capture the little details is what makes the big picture beautiful and significant.  So it is with life.

I'M BACK

Blogging is like a good exercise routine.  Once you have momentum it just comes naturally.


I did train and complete a half marathon once, but believe me, that was an exception to the rule I have about avoiding perspiration.  So like an exercise routine, I fell off my blogging routine when we moved.  I have enjoyed my break (which involved lots of stupid television shows and several pints of Haggan Dazs cookie dough ice cream).  It was nice.


But so is blogging, and I miss it.
Besides, all 3 of my fans have been asking where I am.


So, here I am.  Back at the computer.

Today I have a quick list.   I'm stealing this idea from Jenny's blog.  She occasionally posts "7 QTs" or quick-takes of her life.

1.  I am looking forward to autumn and cooler temperatures.  Last night I spent an hour catching up with some of my favorite blog reading.  One place I have loved to visit since I discovered blogging is The Inspired Room.  In fact, her Holiday Open House Tour in 2008 is what got me thinking that blogging could be really fun and interactive.  So today I am inspired to welcome fall after visiting her 3rd annual Fall Nesting Party.   There are 175 other bloggers linked up at her place sharing all the ways they have welcomed autumn.  Oh there are some good ideas!


2.  The honeymoon is over for my eager to attend school kiddos.  The reality of alarm clocks ringing, homework and long days has set in.  But they are doing well overall. And their mama is able to run errands, and complete a thought and breathe all by herself.

3.  The painting has commenced!  My mother came for the Labor Day weekend and we transformed Molly's room from brown to pale pink.  I'll have a proper "Before and After" post when I finish sewing the curtains.


4.  My dog has shed the Cone of Shame.  His eye has healed and he is back to his usual activity.  He starts school next month to brush up on his training.


5.  I've finally started a new knitting project.  When my mom was here she was knitting and my hands were just itching to pick up some needles.  So here is a preview of my next project - a short sleeve, long length, fitted cardigan, in a blue and green variegated yarn.

6.  Our youngest finally has the long-coveted, big girl bike.  It is a sparkly purple Hello Kitty bike with streamers and a zipper pouch (not a basket).  She loves it!

7.  In the kitchen - It's almost apple pie season and I'm ready to bake.  I'm looking for some quick and yummy ideas for breakfasts.  We are not big on cold cereal at our house.  Any ideas for breakfast casseroles or anything quick and/or make ahead?  Please share.

AWARD

A fellow blogger gave me an award for my English Muffin post the other day. Stacia found me through the blogging party I participated in at Serenity Now.  She has a cute and colorful blog called Little C Makes Three.

An Award?!  (That's what my husband said when I called him to brag.)  

Now he is a big fan of my blog, naturally, but he was a little surprised that I would be receiving awards. 

I have no illusions of fame or a book deal.  I know this award is more "chain letter" than Pulitzer but what FUN!  Plus the little graphic is pretty and makes me smile.  So here is how it works.  I pass on this award to other bloggers who have inspired me and who put a little sunshine in my day.  Hopefully you will visit them and we will have all encouraged one another.  And really that is what blogging is all about!

I pass this Sunshine Award on to these wonderful women:

The Hairbow Chronicles

The name alone is great -with the subtitle "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Hairbow".

Ellen has an adorable blog, and she writes a really funny post.  Her Road Trip post had me laughing out loud.  Enjoy!

Just A Minute

Jenny is someone I found through the Gratitude Community at Holy Experience.  I have felt a connection to the simplicity and beauty of her blog.  She recently started Sixty Seconds on Tuesday and I love her idea of capturing those small moments that get away from us.  

Contented Sparrow

Megan began her blog at the start of this year, like I did, and I really admire how fabulously styled her blog is.  When you see her header it will make you want to raise chickens and bake something.  She is another find from Holy Experience.  It just makes me smile to visit her colorful world.  She takes beautiful photos of her life and includes God's Word in every post. Her post entitled Bringing the Colors of Spring In make me want to paint something.  Her recipes are divine.

Life In Grace

Here is another blog that I love because it has style and substance.  Edie is snazzy and so is her blog.  I covet her fabulous turquoise kitchen but now she has moved and I can't wait to see what she does with her new place.  Plus I love what she said in The Theology in Harry Potter.

Planted By Streams

Jennifer's blog is one I visited when I first discovered blogs a few years ago.  I don't remember where I found her but I have enjoyed popping over on occasion and seeing her life around Washington D.C.    You must see her her recent post entitled Blossoms.  She has the most beautiful photos of the cherry blossoms!

Rules for the Sunshine Award Recipients:

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.

2. Pass the award on to 12 other bloggers. 

  (OK - I didn't quite follow the rules here.  12 is a lot of reading and linking!  I say quality rather than quantity.)

3. Link the nominees within your post.

4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Link back to the person from whom you received this award.

BLOGGING AND KNITTING HUMOR

On our recent trip to Florida I did some poolside reading.

I realize there are two things that are very wrong about this photo.
1.  Most people would not sit in the Florida sun and read a book about knitting.
2.  My sadly neglected toes are not painted a lovely shade of pink or coral.


I can only say I had good intentions for my toes but the polish sat in my suitcase and as for the book well... I knit, and knitters happen to have great books and blogs and a lot of humor.  


I won't bore you non-knitters with a book review on this one but I have to share an excerpt that made me laugh out loud poolside.  


In the book Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously by Adrienne Martini  the author describes her year knitting a very complicated pattern that is considered to be the Mt. Everest of the knitting world.  She takes a trip to visit a knitting designer she met through the internet and here is the part that made me laugh:


     Before I left, my husband said, "You're staying in the guest room of a person you barely know."
     "Pretty much," I said.  "I met her in person once.  She sent me yarn."
     "This is just something knitters do,  isn't it?" he said.
     "I think so.  Besides, if she kills me and buries me in the backyard, she'll probably blog about it."


So true!

BLOGGING PARTY

We've got on our party shoes shoes today!

I have a lot of fun linking up with other blogs.  On Mondays I participate in Holy Experience's list of 1000 gifts.  On Tuesdays I post a quick photo with Jenny for Sixty Seconds on Tuesday.  Today I thought I would link up with Serenity Now for a blogging party.

Amanda at Serenity Now has an adorable blog and has decided to host a monthly blogging get together.  She is a great hostess because not only has she decorated with the cute logo to the right, she also has ice breaker questions laid out below, and promises party favors for a lucky winner.  Thanks Amanda!

1.  How long have you been blogging?  Well I've been reading other people's blogs for 2 years and finally decided to join the party in January this year.

2.  Why did you start?  Because I wanted to do things like this!  Our family has moved many times, I'm home with 4 children, my husband travels for work,  and at the moment I live rurally.  All this makes me a pretty isolated mama.  It's tough to arrange play-dates but I have had some great friendships develop online.

3.  Your title - How did you chose it?  I wrote a post about my title.  It's a sweet story and you can read it by visiting The Yellow Shoe Story.

4.  What do you blog about?  Many people describe blogs as online journals and I guess that is what I'm doing.  I love to share random bits about my children,  my home,  my faith,  things I'm reading, cooking, and creating.   I like to focus on the seasons; changing my header and including the joys of each season in many of my posts.  I love taking and sharing photos and that is an important part of my blog.  I  have always been inspired by the ideas and photographs in the many magazines I read.   It's a visual thing.   All my favorite blogs are like my favorite magazines,  filled with great writing, ideas, and beautiful images from other mothers.  I am sorry to say I have probably missed out on many a great blog post because I wanted to see more than just black text on a white page.  I can't help it. I need pretty on the page to keep my attention.  This is weird because I am an avid reader.  1000 pages of English Lit. - No problem!  But when I'm looking at a screen I need something more.

5.  What is your favorite thing about blogging?  The creativity that doesn't involve crayons and cleaning up afterwards.  The connection with other like minded mothers.  Feeling like I had a adult conversation.  The inspiration I find at so many great sites.  Staying connected with family and friends I don't get to see often.  The writing - I enjoy the process of  collecting my thoughts and refining what I want to say in the quiet hours when my children are asleep.

6.  If you had to choose one famous person to become your blog's next devoted reader, who would you pick?  I have to stay in blogland for this question and say Pioneer Woman.  I love her.  She is certainly famous now with her cookbook, TV appearances and a movie deal.  She was just one of us a few years ago!  A mom, isolated on an Oklahoma ranch blogging about her love of family, food and photography. She is SO funny.  It doesn't hurt that I'm from Oklahoma too so I have to love her for showcasing my often neglected home state.

7.  What is the funniest comment you've ever received on a blog post?  Well I have to say the most ridiculous thing to appear in my comments was something I wrote.  Follow the chain of comments below and see for yourself what a techie I am...

from my Random Bit #4 post

~kiMbeRLy~ said...

haha! I love those shoes! I am always taking strange pictures...Will has just learned to deal! Its a blogger thing!

Misty said...

This post has been removed by the author.

Misty said...

Completely disregard the above comment! Kim, if you read this please do not think it was in response to your comment. I was trying to show my mom who is here visiting how to make a comment. To do a test I randomly typed BOO HOO. Don't ask me why. That's just what popped into my head. Now I have to figure out how to delete comments! It's the blind leading the blind around here!

I totally embarrassed myself with this one!  I don't know if poor Kimberly has been back to visit.

SIXTY SECONDS ON TUESDAY

Life is so busy that we tend to let minutes slip by uncounted, undocumented, unnoticed.  Those moments hold the potential for special memories to be cherished a lifetime. And yet I let my attention be drawn away by the never ending list.   Why do I feel that urgent pull to wash dishes, organize the pantry, and post on my blog but miss those little minutes that make relationships?

Blogging is funny.   You just stumble into people you would never meet in your everyday life.  Total strangers but people like you.  Recently I found Jenny.  She started a weekly post called Sixty Seconds on Tuesday and asked others to join in.  We will share just a minute each Tuesday that we want to remember. 

One minute, one photo, one sentence, one memory.

 Still for a moment, except for the movements of his fingers, making music on a damp spring day.

RANDOM BIT #4

One thing I love about the spring is shedding the boots for some fancier footwear.  These are my favorites.  

If you were in my home you would hear this conversation.

      child #2 :  "Hey, look at mama.  Why is she out there taking pictures of her feet?"

      child #3 :  "That's funny."  (opening door)  "Mama, WHAT are you doing?"

      child #4 :  "I LUV your shoes Mama.  There are so pretty!"

      child #1 :  "It's for her blog thing."

I love these shoes.  They just make me happy.

BLOGGING LUNCH

Today I met with a group of women bloggers - in real life.
This blogging thing is so weird.  I felt like I was going on a blind date.
How did I find myself leaving my family and driving over an hour to Portsmouth,  New Hampshire to have lunch with 5 strangers?

I'm nosy.

 - who are these people?
 - who bears their souls online for the world to see?
 - who gets giddy about the comments of random strangers?
 - what the heck is twitter all about?
 - and why did I join their ranks?

We met in a cozy restaurant, in charming downtown Portsmouth, and shared pizza, conversation and some really good brownie sundaes.  Unfortunately I have NO photos.  (I hate a blog post with no photos!)
Thank you Marissa, Kimberly, and Jo for helping answer my questions.  And thank you to Corinne for organizing the whole thing and letting me invite myself.  I loved hearing everyone's thoughts on blogging.  It is fascinating to find the similarities and differences in a random group.  You gave me lots to think about.

I have so many things rattling around in my head to write about, however we leave for the cabin first thing in the morning.  I will be away for the week and will have limited access to a computer so things will be quiet around here for several days.
I love pencil and paper better than keyboards anyway.

There is packing to do.  There are children to put to bed.
Goodnight.

SMILES IN KENYA

I started following a blog about an American mom who travels to Kenya with Compassion International.  Now I'm reading the blogs of 2 other people on the same trip.  I can't get enough.  The stories and photos are beautiful and full of joy and hope.  You must visit the links below.

Our family sponsors 3 children through Compassion.  Three years ago there was a ministry fair at our church and we stopped by the Compassion booth. We had our children pick out a picture of a child who needed a sponsor.  They were interested and we thought it would be a good experience to have our children write to them.  We knew that this was a good thing to do and that we would be blessing a family in less fortunate circumstances.  We have dutifully sent our monthly checks and several times a year we write letters and the kids color a picture and send a sheet of stickers to their child.  We include their names in our prayers around the dinner table.  And yet, it was not that personal.
Until I read these:

This Is Reverb » The day of spiritual jealousy…

In the Shoes that Share « Jonesbones5

We Are THAT Family: Day 3: Why I'm in Kenya

Thanks to these lovely writers who have changed my ideas about what it means to sponsor a child.

Here are our children.  I would love to go on a Compassion trip to meet them someday, but even if I cannot,  I want to know their little hearts.

THOUGHTS ON CONTENTMENT

I love the Gratitude Community that Ann of A Holy Experience has created. She describes the process of keeping a gratitude journal in the words below.


 "I am seeing things I have never seen before, atuned and aware of this constant, endless stream of gifts from His hand. I am one waking from slumber....from the stupor of indifference and ignorance. I have sight, fresh and keen---the world is new and full of His gifts."


I am also recalling a sermon on contentment I heard several years ago that left an impression on me.  The minister described being discontent as an offense to God.  That it is akin to telling God that the plan and life He has created for us just isn't enough.


This is not to say that we should not strive for more, that we should not have wants, that we should not boldly ask for our heart's desire. But always looking ahead to what could make us happy causes us to miss what we have now.  Being content is a skill we must practice, just like love is a choice you must make, rather than a feeling you experience.  Sometimes it's really difficult to focus on now - there are many things around us that we are not thankful for.  But if we sharpen our eyesight there are thousands of gifts in our presence.


My list of 1000 gifts continue...


51.   sunshine on a Sunday morning drive to church
52.  a timely sermon - words spoken honest and true about doubt

53.  the loving artwork created in Sunday school

54.  the lyrics of a song...

           "From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea

              Creation's revealing Your majesty. 

             From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring

               Every creature unique in the song that it sings."

55.  squeezing 6 of us into a booth for coffee and pastries after church

56.  melting snow

57.  a solitary walk in the sunshine

58.  a prayer for my heart's desire

59.  the yummy treats Daddy brought home from his trip

60.  the joyous face of my littlest one as she shows me treasures found her nature walk with daddy

61.  the smell of the pasta sauce simmering on the stove for this evening's meal

62.  a husband who still tells me I have nice legs

63.  time to stitch and create with my little artist

64.  an apology given and received among siblings

65.  anticipation of a birthday to come
66.  friendly creatures living on my windowsill 

   Thank you Lord for the peace that comes, 

for the unexpected joys we find, 

when we choose contentment.

BIBBITY BOBBITY BLOG

Dear Readers, (all 7 of you)
Thank you for all your comments about how impressed you are, and how beautiful the blog looks and how wonderful my writing is.  It makes me so happy inside!
I live in a world where not much is accomplished that I don't have to start all over again - take laundry for example.  My goals as a mother are so long term that I can't even see them from here.  So I live on faith that if I work a little each day,  eventually I can look back and say  "All that work paid off.  I did a good job."  


So back to the blog... It's fun.  In 30 minutes and a few clicks on a keyboard I have made something pretty, and useful and something to share that makes me feel accomplished.  So be impressed people! 
   
Today I added a few new features: 
 (And here is where my confession starts and I begin to look less impressive)

- One reader (my brother) asked about subscribing to my blog. Push a button.  There it is.  Sign up to receive an email every time I write a new post.

- At the bottom of each new post you will find links to older posts on similar topics that you can go back and read.  It's called "link within" and it looks really professional.  Again, one push of a button and it's cataegorized and listed for me.  See below.

-  I now have permanent pages listed so that newcomers to my blog can read the original     "Welcome to My Blog" post and "The Yellow Shoe Story".   

-  Also a list of  "places I visit" can be found in the side column.  These are links to other blogs I like to read that have inspired me.  Click on any one of these and you will see that I am an amateur in blogland. 

Bibbity Bobbity Blog!  It's MAGIC!

BLOGGING EGO

So I wasn't going to post today but I just have to share my big news - a complete stranger left me a comment this afternoon!  She said she LOVED MY BLOG!  And that it is "very nice to meet me"!  Now I fully admit that I'm bordering on pathetic here but I have to say it made me smile.  It is my first comment from a non-family member and a big boost to my blogging ego. So, thank you Ginger (whoever you are)!

Off to do laundry.

WINTER BLISS

One of the blogs I love to read is a decorating blog called The Inspired Room.  Much to my husband's dismay it always makes me want to move furniture or paint something!  Today Melissa at The Inspired Room is hosting a "Winter Bliss" Linky.  (I know it's very geeky of me to start using all the blog lingo - but REALLY it's called a Linky:  A list that connects you to all these other people that have written about the same thing.)  Anyway, although Melissa usually inspires me to DO something, this is my Winter Bliss today.

The outdoor  thermometer reads ZERO!  Wooly socks, popcorn, a crackling fire and Gone With the Wind on the television is the perfect winter day.