Great and Grand moments....

On busy days we rush through life, running errands, attending meetings, making time for online activities, eating, exercising, doing laundry and readying for bed....in all of that we look for "great and grand" moments.

They are there, you know they are yet we seem to rush by them.  It might have been a "great" meeting, you might have exercised to a "grand" old song you acknowledge the moments, yet you think of others....

Moments where "great and grand" were clearly noticable, not rushed through, not just acknowledged but lived. 

The above picture is one of those "great and grand" moments.  Silly and scary costumes, sweet and sour candy, squishy and squashy objects, huggie and kissie times with "great grandma Susan and grandma Judy"... those memories of long ago and not so long ago creep in and flood the memory banks from time to time.

Even when you think life is not so "great" and things are not so "grand" they are, don't let the good times rush by, stop, drink a million cups of pretend tea, blow a bazillion bubbles, wipe away tears, hug til your arms hurt and share the "great and grand" times life has to offer....you never know when you'll need those memories......

Mammograms and Tapioca, something comforting about both.....

I know, I know you are thinking has she lost it with these late night ramblings, tapioca and mammograms in the same daily thought? 

Today was my semi annual mammogram.  Just routine, something you do for you, for your family and for the generations after you...I've been called "dense" on more than one occassion, thankfully they have always been referrring to my breasts.  You would think that is a good thing you know, perhaps making you a "D" instead of a "B or C", yet that's not how it works, it actually makes it harder to examine, they feel more like,  you guessed it, lumpy, tapioca pudding... 

Looking back on growing up (if you're 50 or older) do you remember the simmering of tapioca on the stove? Not the kind you pull off the grocery shelf with just a few "fish eggs" in a container of goop, but an actual, yellow, sweet, sticky, "full" of lumpy fish eggs pot of tapioca simmering on grandma's stove...ah, the memories of things that simmered on that stove.

As I am awaiting my results I think back on simplier times, when homes simmered of things like tapioca pudding, people sat on the front porch and chatted with neighbors and  they "wrote" letters to far away family members and dropped them in the mailbox...me, tonight I sit in the recliner, talking to people far and wide via the laptop and pulled the little tin foil lid from the container of no sugar added tapioca "goop"....

My mother had breast cancer, she was one of the lucky ones, she survived it at the time, diabetes and a broken heart also made for a challenging life....(a post for another time)

I know there are comforting times in tapioca and mammograms, they are the past and the future...a good way of measuring time doesn't stand still and we are alive.

*Remember to put your mammogram appointment in the smart phone and add some tapioca to the shopping list, app.......you'll be glad you did.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just what makes  a "heart happy day"...is it the bouquet sitting on a desk , although beautiful and a welcome addition to any winter day it seems if you dig deep it is much more than that.

It's the heart that gave your teenage sons each a silver baby cup with their birthdays inscribed to let them know your family was about to be reborn and starting anew on your wedding day.

It's the heart that gave you a baby calf to bottle feed, pigs to chase, and puppies from the pound.

It's the heart that held you and your sons up as you buried a nephew just starting his life, a heart that picked you up off the floor as you sat helpless at the loss of your best friend, who brushed the tears away as you buried not one, but two mothers and countless family members.

It's the heart that takes you to new heights, roller coasters in Las Vegas, para sailing in Mexico and soaring towers in Chicago.

It's the heart that holds the tiny hands of your children's children in his and calls himself "grandpa", the heart that catches fireflies, holds the back of the bicycle as you learn to ride, takes you to the zoo, sits through sporting events cheering you on or rocks you to sleep.

It's the heart that bakes cookies, keeps meals in the crock pot and fills the swimming pool, changes the oil in your car, washes the windshield and pumps gas on a cold day.  

It's the heart that watches you make mistakes, lives through your mood swings, listens to you grumble and never complains.

So for every beautiful bouquet, box of chocolates and card given the past 25 years I say thank you....but for all the above, I say.... "I Love You", Valentine!

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Here it is my first post with my mug and I in the middle of the day....and I sit here struggling to get the words out of my head and into print.

I am reminding myself the beauty of it all is they don't have to rhyme, make sense to anyone but me or be perfect.........and then suddenly there's a little voice that shouts from the other side of the room "it's perfect"!

Holding up a little circle of crocheted yarn that she and I have been working on that she turned into a collar for Belle our little rat terrier, as lopsided as it was it was perfect in her little mind and so shall the words be that fall upon the pages as my days unfold.......

If you feel so inclined to grab a mug in the morning, at noon or midnight and join me I would feel blessed to share the "rustic graces" that bless each and every one of my days as they come by, from the rusty horse shoe hanging on the garden gate to the wonders of a sunset....it's all that's packed in between that really matters.

Again, it doesn't have to make sense or be perfect, but somewhere along the way it all is....that's how you count your blessings!


Judy~Rustic Graces