Queen for a Day - A Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2012

The day began mild and sunny, with increasing cloudiness later in the day, the segue for a calming spring rain later in the evening.  Ahhhh, yes.

I was directed to relax and enjoy the day (tough assignment), leaving all worries to the rest of our home's inhabitants.

I spent the afternoon buying flowers for the beds and patio, giving a fresh coat of paint to a few planters, then planting some of my purchases in pots in and about the patio.  I had purchased a honeysuckle vine while visiting in Yadkinville, and I finally had the time to unwind and arrange it to adorn the screened porch --- easy, a little messy, time consuming, but so worth it.  My plan was to lace a string of white lights through the vine and then bits of florals and foliage.

I rested...

...was served wine...

...read a book...

...was served dinner from the grill...

... gifted with beautiful red flowers ...

AND SURPRISED WITH A NEW KINDLE!

suh-weet!

The evening was topped off with a lovely fire on the patio, its warmth a nice touch to the cooler temps from the cloudiness and oncoming showers. 

 (Why is it that wood smoke smells EVEN BETTER when the air is damp?)

I could not have asked for a sweeter day.

It's great to be loved.

Acoustic Mastery

Toni Braxton.  

I was listening to her on my drive home tonight.  A lovely evening...and listening to her silken acoustic vocals of Shadowless...

There are few musicians who can sing this RAW
and this BEAUTIFULLY.  

Such control.
Mastery.


I could have driven all night listening to her.

She's a genre all her own.

Restoration through music

It's been a long week, and my brain is fried, my body is tired, and I find myself wanting to do nothing but sit and rest, listen to music. 

Think. 
Dream. 
Restore.

The perfect accompaniment...

Sax by the Sea. 
Composer:  Michael Licari

This CD was given to me as sort of a "going away" gift by a very dear friend about ten years ago when I was moving away.  She knew my love for jazz.  She knew my love for the ocean.  She knew JUST the perfect gift of remembrance.  I think of her EVERY time I listen to this CD.  (Funny how a piece of music connects us instantly to a time, a place, a person, an emotion, an event.  Instant recall.)

(If only I could meet Mr. Licari to thank him for the infinite impression it has left on my life.)

Since then I have listended to this CD so many times that I can't believe it still plays.  I've handled it with kid gloves over the years, having fallen in love from the first moment I listened, wanting to preserve it forever.  I've given this CD as a gift to other people who have treasured it as much as I have.  It's just one of those pieces of music that one never grows tired of listening to.

In a word?  Relaxing.

In fact, I've ripped it to my laptop so that I can listen to it wherever I go -- office, car, travel.  It's perfect for napping when I've been traveling on the road, and since I rarely travel without my laptop, it's my go-to for restfulness, whenever and wherever life finds me.

I recently discovered this video on YouTube. 
(Thank you, Flower4815, for this lovely and powerful illustration to this beloved music!)

This CD is available on Amazon.  I highly recommend it for one's library.

Worthy Reminders

I haven't had time to blog lately.  I snag moments here and there trying to catch up my reading of emails, other blogs, etc., during pauses and breaks of my otherwise very busy last few days in court.

This wonderful blog post made my day.  What a lovely reminder to us all.  So relevant.  Climactic.

It urges me to ask myself:  What are my regrets?  Do they instigate within me an urgency to make things right?  Undo wrongs?  Set records straight?  Connect what lies broken?

Thought provoking.  Yes.

My Hugh-ge Breakfast

Slept in a little this morning.  Feel wonderfully rested.  Now having coffee and contemplating what to eat for breakfast before I head to the gym. 

Hmmm...let's start with a Hugh-ge serving of 'licious.

    THE EYES.  THE CLOSE-SHAVEN BEARD.  THE HAIR. 

Fresh Start

It's dark out, night giving way reluctantly to dawn.  As I sit here over my morning coffee, listening to distant thunder, the rain tapping against the window, I can hear birds chirping in the stillness of this morning.  The symphony of these sounds is a sweet serenade.  A rhapsody of promise.

God's opus.  The melody is beautiful.  The message is sweet and clear.  A new day awaits.  A do-over.  No mistakes.  Another opportunity to make this day count, to make the right choices, to live, laugh, and love ...

to soulfully  dance   to the music and promise of a new day.

It is my absolute favorite time of the day, made even more meaningful and precious by this morning's serenade of nature.

"...in notes by distance made more sweet..."



~ Collins

Laugh of the Day

My good friend and neighbor (who happens to also love red wine, jazz and has my dry sense of humor, by the way--GAWD I love that woman) loaned me a few DVD's a couple of years ago when I mentioned to her that I was in the mood to watch a great movie, either a really good romance or a really funny comedy.   

Two of those I have since watched countless times.  BINGO! Absolutely hysterical, and the perfect cure for pissy moods, those distinctive lift-me-up-out-of-this-suffocating-funk-and-make-me-laugh-my-ass-off kinds of days.  (Surely I'm not the only one who suffers such curses.) Total rescue and renewal.

Death at a Funeral, 2007 version.  

I will never grow tired of this movie.  I'm just sorry I didn't see it at the box office.  I've fallen in love with ALL of the characters, but Uncle Alfie and Simon are very close to the top of my favorites on that list.

Definitely one of my all-time favorite movies.  Ever!