The allure of the tar pit

I woke last night in another of my mind filled frenzies.  I was sleeping well, which hasn't occurred in several nights due to my fierce head cold.  I was panicking and letting my old insecurities get the better of my mind rather than trusting God.  As I lay there my fears subsided and I thought about tar pits...yes tar pits!  Living creatures would be attracted by the shiny appearance of tar pits (apparently they had no sense of smell because tar stinks!) and they would find themselves being sucked into them and the more they struggled the faster the tar would suck them down.  Other creatures seeing a struggling creature would think they had an easy meal and they too would get trapped by the ooze.  Move swiftly ahead a few million years and today those same tar pits are spitting up the bones of all of their victims.

It is a good analogy of our lives when you think about it.  We get attracted to the shiny things this world has to offer such as beauty, power, money, lust and we get ensnared in it and it eats us alive.  If we are lucky or better yet wise, we can escape our tar pits through God's Grace and we avoid having our bones spit up millions of years later. 

Do you realize that the shiniest of shiny places in all of the world has the most famous tar pits of all.  Can you guess where that is?  Hollywood!  Yes gentle readers, Hollywood, Cal-ee-forn-eye-a!  The La Brea Tar Pits!  Seems to me that is God's sense of humor, doncha think?

Honestly there has been a time or two in my life when I was attracted by the lure of the shiny things.  It never seemed to last long as God always had a way of humbling me and returning my mind to sanity.  It hasn't been but 4 years since he pulled me back from the precipice of the cliff.  It was New Years Day and I was flipping thru the channels and I happened to pause on a channel where a nice looking young minister was talking about God and I swear that he was talking directly to me.  I had tears streaming down my face and what he was saying was like a salve to my soul.  In my hour of need God spoke to me through Joel Osteen. 

Most of us have such busy lives that we cannot see, let alone hear, God as He goes about his timeless promise of being here for us.  He talks to each of in different ways, He speaks very quietly to me and to my dear friend Marilyn, He is loud and proud.  He speaks to each of us in the way He knows will grab our attention.  Be still for a few and you may hear Him.  He may speak in grandiose ways such as a sunset or an earthquake.  He may speak in a quiet way as thru the smile of a stranger or the shape of a cloud.  You must be open for His words. Our lives are so cluttered with static that a lot of times it isn't until we reach a crisis point in our lives that we do hear Him!  When we do finally hear Him, we look back at our lives and we see how His works have been there all along, we were just too busy struggling in the tar pit that is our life to hear Him.  Don't let the tar pit spit your bones out in a million years from now, it will be too late then.

I had thought about blathering about creativity but that I shall leave for another day.  I did start a small project.  It is a free design but I can't find who the designer is.  It is the words "I love you" in the shape of a free form heart.  The person I am making it for, his favorite color is Navy Blue, not blue, Navy Blue.  Well I had a wonderful piece of fabric in 28 count lugana and I am stitching with Crescent Colours "Cupid".  I am wild about the contrast of the 2 colors.  I know you can't see it but that is my sick self behind the fabric of the web cam pic.  There is NO cute hair this week!  I am just blessed I feel half way human!

I really like this Glendon Place design "Eggs a la Round".  I don't think I will buy it although I can't predict the future.  I just have SO much stash and I really need to comb through it and seriously get rid of a lot of it. 

I hope that for today you will feel the grace of God, if not for just one brief moment, and let that feeling fill every cell of your body.  God Bless Us Everyone!

Ghosts in the Linen Closet

We have a ghost in the linen closet, that is the latest from my youngster April.  She is a skittish pup and last evening I put up some medicine and boxes of tissues in the closet.  Well a short time later one of the medicine boxes settled and this poor pooh jumped a mile. For the next 30 minutes she sat and stared at the closed door, cocking her head back and forth waiting for the "ghost" to come and get her.  Well I know that no one and that includes ghosts would want to "get" her.  They would have to endure tongue baths and the herding nudge with the nose in the keister, not to mention whining when Rose steals her bone and runs outside to bury it. Ghosts don't want family time in the bathroom while they are doing their business or the pleading brown eyes for a little morsel of food to be dropped.  I think that whoever might "get" April would bring her back very quickly.  I think that our ghost in the linen closet will not be showing itself again soon.

It is a overcast rainy day here in the Lilac Thicket today. I can feel the life squirming around in the bare limbs of our beloved lilac bushes. Soon there will be emerald leaves appearing and then the heavenly fragrant blossoms will appear.



I have been lousy sick with a head cold and it started last Thursday.  I have been through boxes of tissues, cough syrup, Actifed and Afrin.  Finally I am feeling better.  It is hard to imagine how much mucus one human being can produce.

There hasn't been any stitching done at all.  I have to say I love the new Lizzie Kate "Flora McSampler" line.   I think they are cute. Even though they are quick stitches, for me, they would be a year long project.  LOL!

My Marie Calander Beef Pot Pie is done so I am going to finish this boring missive and eat.  May all of you stay healthy and may there be NO ghosts in your linen closet!  God Bless Us Everyone.

Some found freebies and the running of the nose

A really cute freebie offered at http://syku66.blogspot.com/ .  It is called "The Thief", I love it. 

Cute chicken and Easter design from http://stickeule.blogspot.com/ .

A nice patriotic free design from http://www.prairieschooler.com/free.htm .

Pretty spring tulips, a nice free design at http://www.permin.dk/Default.aspx?ID=21 .

I thought at first this was a bird house but I now think it could be a mail box that lovers mail off their cards and letters written with passionate love poems.  Find this free design at http://penelopisfreebies.blogspot.com/ .

Sweet little Valentine design for you to stitch for next year or even to declare your love to your one true soul mate.  Find this nice design at http://passionericamojournal.blogspot.com/ .


There is a darling Spring/Easter stitch along that is being offered at http://novalee02.over-blog.com/ .  I couldn't save a pic of the design so you will have to go look yourself.  Part one is available now, it is cute little chickies.


If you love Marilyn Monroe then you may want to stitch this.  It is a free design offered here http://www.cachounette.com/ .

Fun little monkey design available at http://www.mariadiazdesigns.com/mdd/free.php .

I am trying to come down with a sinus infection and am feeling a bit miserable which makes me upset because this is the start of my 3 day weekend.  Hopefully I can fight this thing off with Zyrtec, Hall's Cough drops, Diet Pepsi, frequent naps and general laziness.

So Melanie Griffith said in a movie, there is someplace that you can touch a woman and drive her crazy...her heart.  This morning my sweetheart told me he had put my picture in his wallet.  That indeed touched my heart.  Gentle readers, I am crazy for him.  We have some rain moving in and I am having problems getting warm.  I think I will climb into bed.  God Bless Us Everyone.

Love and the Positive Life

Yes I have been told my postings have been missed from here within the Lilac Thicket.  Yes I have been remiss but with good reason, I have been busy falling in love with the most amazing man.  No he is not the same fellow I met last year, but he is much more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.  He will be moving up to the area at the beginning of April and we will be able to spend a lot of time together. 

That being said I wanted to share this:

20 Tips for a Positive Life

 

Take a 10-30 minute “Thank you” walk every day. While you walk practice gratitude. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
• Buy a TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep—it’s the ultimate energizer.
• When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is to___________ today.
• Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
• Read more books than you did last year.
• Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
• Do the “one thing” you have always wanted to do.
• Dream more while you are awake.
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
• Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.
• Engage in daily random acts of kindness.
• Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing positive energy into your life.
• Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
• Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
• Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
• Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:  I am thankful for __________.  Today I accomplished____________.
• Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
• Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

I am enjoying all my chats and phone calls with my sweetheart, so I ask you for prayers that he is indeed as wonderful as I think.  God Bless Us Everyone

A new life mission!

Dear Gentle Readers, I am here at work and it is miserably slow.  I was thinking what could I do to possibly pass the time more enjoyably!  My first thought was to break out in song and show them a little soft shoe but that might embarrass my fellow employees and make them feel so inferior and talentless!  So I decided I would delight you and dazzle you with my sparkling whit and wisdom.  Oh lucky you!  Nothing particularly exciting going on at the Thicket that needs to be regaled in my unique perspective so I just may elegantly amble on about nothing!


I haven't stitched a drop since last weekend and this weekend might be rather thin in that department but we will see.  I am waiting on my "Forgive Quickly Kiss Slowly" to come.  I am anxious to start that and possibly begin that motto immediately in my own life!  I thought, why the heck do I need a special guy to employ that philosophy with?  So imagine this if you will..I am standing in line at the local hardware store, someone accidentally nudges me from behind and I turn around and it is very handsome man.  I quickly tell him I forgive him and I wrap my arms around him, bend him backwards and give him the best kiss of his life.  His wife and children standing next to him are not amused and as the cops hand cuff me and drag me off for assaulting with a deadly weapon (my kisses are deadly fabulous), they refuse to listen to my entreaties about my new life mission.

I love this little freebie and it can be found at: http://theprimitivehare.blogspot.com/

Stephanie has a wonderful sounding apple coffee cake recipe made in the crock pot.  You can find the recipe here: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/



These are really sweet and you can find the patterns here: http://stitchesandcatsohmy.blogspot.com/

Well these are all my mindless meanderings and if you hear not from me gentle readers for a while, please I will need a little bail money, I may be in the hoosegow.  So until then God Bless Us, Everyone!

PS:  Hello Orin and welcome to my Lilac Thicket.  We will talk at a later time about that forgiving and kissing thing!

What a sexy girlish girl wears.

Oh my we had a beautiful full moon last night!  There was a thin veil of clouds and they were flying across the moon like they were late for a very important appointment somewhere north of here.  This morning the sun is just now gracing us with his presence (I know the sun is a male because of his name, Sol).  There is a very steady wind out there and I can see the brown leaves in the pin oak tree gyrating like a million Tahitian dancers.  It sounds like a lovely huge wind chime in my very own back yard.

You may or may not recognize that lovely woman in the above picture.  It is Rita Hayworth and she is wearing a very sexy outfit.  The picture was in my Colette Patterns e-mail yesterday and she was talking about how do you dress, is it for comfort or is it for sex appeal or something else altogether.  I am definitely a girly girl and I love frilly, lacy, soft, satiny and it is those things that make me feel sexy.  It is the cute hair, the little bit of make-up I wear to make my eyes the first thing you notice, it is the soft, floral cologne I like to wear, it is the fit of the clothes I wear, that make me feel sexy.  For so long now I have not felt sexy nor desirable but along about last July when enough weight had come off and I was feeling so much better, I began to want to care about how I looked.  A dear friend whispered in my ear last week that she really enjoyed watching me develop this confidence, this attitude I now have.  Important to me was if it appeared in overt or in subtle ways and she said definitely subtle.  I don't ever want to be arrogant or what we called in my younger years "stuck up". I want to be quietly confident and cool and sexy.  For instance on Monday when I walked out of a shop and a fellow in a truck was flirting with me as he backed out of the parking place and almost hit the car waiting for his spot.  I was very cool and aloof, pretended not to notice, continued on my way to my car and then I laughed and laughed and I felt like a million bucks.

I am so excited about me and looking forward to enjoying my journey in life.  I was thinking about my wardrobe and what little pieces I would need to have in order to delight my girlish side.  First would be a sexy, silky camisole and maybe a lacy one, something to wear under a blouse with a pair of jeans.  This weekend I am going to find the fabric and I will keep you informed!  I mean gentle readers you are my most intimate girlfriends!  Yes I want to be sexy for someone and you know who that is?  Draw a little closer sisters, closer, a little closer because it is an intimate secret....ready?  Me!

I really like this spring time free design and you can capture it at:

http://martine290.over-blog.com/

This is a cute free design offered by Brookes Book Publishing!  It's called "Stupid Cupid", remember Lana & the Fontana's in the movie "Princess Diaries" sang the song "Stupid Cupid Stop Picking On Me".  Here is what that little booger looks like!  Snag him at: http://www.brookesbooks.com/CrossStitchFreebies.html

I did partake of a little nippy of the Stashahol 100 proof.  I ordered from 1-2-3 Stitch, Blackbird Designs "Pumpkin Farm", Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks "Imperial Heart" and then from Drawn Thread the January, February and March Calendar Covers.  My most favorite Stashahol though hasn't arrived, it is Lizzie Kate's "Forgive Quickly, Kiss Slowly"!  I hope to take her advise when I find the right kissable guy!

So all my lovelies, my girls, my posse, my most intimate readers, I will leave you for the moment but always remember, stay sexy, stay modest, stay Godly and above all stay blessed, everyone!

Big girl panties shouldn't wad!

One of the great things about losing weight is all the little perks, like having the tummy not rub up against the steering week, actually being able to tie one’s sneakers in the exact middle of the laces, bending over to pick up the candy bar wrapper that fell on the floor and then there is the joy of having your clothing get bigger and bigger until you actually look like a sad sack in them.  Well I had an epiphany at the Laundromat, I actually now had 7 (count ‘em seven) washing machines filled with clothing.  It used to be just 3!  Well now 2 of them were filled with my snickers!!!!  To my amazement I had 4 different sizes of snickers.  I had noticed that the larger sizes were creating a bit of a waddish situation, you’ve heard that saying “don’t get your panties in a wad”?  Well the bigger ones were feeling a bit on the waddish side.  So when I came home I sorted thru them and took the largest 2 sizes out of circulation, put them in a plastic grocery bag (see accompanying photo).   

When I was at work today I got to thinking about my girlish nature and even if I did put them in a plastic bag, when the snicker collection became thin because I was procrastinating a trip to the laundromat, I would dig those snickers out of my rag bag and wear them until I could make it up to wash more.  So what did my little mind come up with?  Well gentle readers…brace yourselves…I had a crotch cutting ceremony when I came home from work.  Yes I unknotted the bag and dumped them out (see accompanying photo)

and proceeded to cut all the crotches, sort of like a ribbon snipping ceremony, but for snickers. I snipped and snipped (see accompanying photo),

and before you know it all 16 pair were useless, unless I decide to go for the crotchless panty look (see accompanying photo) !  I can hear the gasps of horror, me in crotchless panties? That would be too horrible to even imagine!  Of course I wonder if this is what Victoria’s Secret had in mind for sexy intimate apparel…um-m-m, I think not!    

Then I gathered them all up and held them up and for one moment I thought I resembled a Native American holding the scalps of 16 white women instead of 16 pair of too large cotton drawers (see accompanying photo).  Now I will no longer be tempted by the big girl snickers!  Oh my gosh I am ingenious!

So now my gentle readers I have my rag bag full of useful cotton rags for my household chores, that is IF I decide to begin to DO household chores!  So my my gentle readers I will leave you with a bit of Lilac Thicket wisdom, if your panties get into a wad, snip the crotch!  God Bless us, everyone!