our japanese cherry trees are blooming here.
i love them, but i love the yoshinos best of all.
i'm waiting on them.
not very patiently.
they are teasing me every day with their delicate buds almost ready to burst open.
they know i am ready to drink in their beauty.
so they make me wait.
and i do.





when neon signs were first used, people called them "electric fire"
what a great phrase.
how come we don't use that phrase anymore?
just because phrases and words go out of style i suppose.
people find new and better words to describe things and people.
but we discover the old stuff and it becomes new all over again.

and round and round we go.

some words and phrases never do get rediscovered.
they stay gone forever.
there are some you wish would never return back in style, but do.

so for fear that electric fire might never come back, i am requesting that we all use it again.
maybe a drink could be named the electric fire?
or a dance
or a sandwich
or a personality disorder
or how about a physical condition
or maybe a fashion trend?

how about we bring back electric fire?
what's your vote on it?

have a happy and very lucky friday the 13th!

and don't forget to enter the february freebie giveaway which will end on the 15th! leave a comment on the post dated on 2.7.09 to be eligible.




some of you may know that my own personal ikea store or (my)kea as i like to call it, has been under construction within a mere 15 minutes from my house.
it is now done.
and ready to show off its lovely saturated hues and smart design.
to me personally.
because it is (my)kea.
a friend told me that ikea will allow people to camp out starting on february 16th.
two days before the store opens.
will i be camping out with them?
no i won't.
but why you ask? if i'm such a crazy idiot fan of ikea, wouldn't i want to be camping out as well?
fortunately, i won't have to.
because i will have already been there.
because i get to go to the pre-opening.
because i have an awesome friend who also
has an awesome friend who works for ikea
and was given only a limited number of these tickets that she could hand out
one of which i now possess
because she knows how much i love ikea.
and because she loves me
and i owe her big time.
more than big time.
and i thank her.
from the bottom of my ikea loving heart.
because now i won't have to camp out in the freezing cold with my sleeping bag that smells like campfire and stale farts.

signs that you're ready for a weekend



1. you ask on monday if it's friday yet
2. you put the milk in the pantry instead of the refrigerator
3. you seriously think about putting in an intravenous line for the coffee to go straight into your system 24/7
4. you ask on tuesday if it's friday yet
5. you pick up the stapler instead of the phone and answer it
6. you put your underwear on backwards and can't understand why you have a wedgie from hell
7. every other driver on the road becomes more and more of an inconsiderate jerk as the week goes by
8. you ask on wednesday if it's friday yet
9. it feels like the days have dropped into a black hole
10. when friday actually does get here, you ask "is it friday already?"

self portrait tuesday

in
february's theme is "introduce yourself"



hi! i'm dawn.
week II

i am a social worker and have worked with older people for more than 14 years. when i first got my master's degree in social work, i worked for hospice. i became interested in working with hospice after my father died. i was pretty sure that i would never heal from his tragic and sudden death, but i eventually did and i did so because of the support i received from another hospice social worker who ended up mentoring me and inspiring me to be a medical social worker.

i worked for hospice for 12 years and i loved every minute of it because its mission is something i truly believe in. but 12 years of death and dying can really take its toll so i left hospice to work at a non-profit continuing care retirement community.

working with older people teaches me every day. they teach me how to live. they teach me how to laugh. they teach me that i really should remember to floss my teeth and the importance of fiber in my diet.

february freebie



well, we're now into february.
and that's a good thing because it's technically the last month of winter.
and winter can't end soon enough.
in celebration of winter ending, i would like to give this little vase away.
it's a vase made by yours truly and it's the perfect size for holding little spring flowers.
that will be coming soon.
very soon.

please leave a comment and a random name will be drawn.
drawing will end on february 15th.



how about some blue sky?
and some sunshine?
and how about a light breeze that blows your laundry hanging on the line?
and when you bring them in at the end of the day, they smell so amazing.
like fresh air and open space.
and hopefully a bird hasn't pooped on 'em.
but then you get to wash them again
and hang them out to dry
against a blue sky
and some sunshine.

you are loved



these " i am loved" buttons bring a lot of happiness to the older folks i work with.
I've been giving them out for a few years now.
they have been a service that's been provided by helzberg jewelers since 1967.
they are produced in every language and they are free for the giving.

learn about them here and remind the ones you love that they're loved.

a diagram of mr. ntm's happiness

see my guy?
he's happy.
he's very, very happy.
and why?
because he's in his man cave.
let us take a look at why he's so happy, shall we?



i've taken the liberty to number the happy things to make it easier for you to follow along.
1. the stogie. disgusting. but he loves them. even with all my nagging about throat and mouth cancer, the big guy can't get enough of them. gross.
2. coffee. lots and lots of coffee.
3. even though the dogs have peed on this couch a thousand times, he still adores his couch. and he can watch all kinds of passers by from this perch. another perk.
4. fly fishing bench. next to me, (possibly me anyway), fly fishing is his greatest love.
5. his sauna. he likes to sweat. why? i don't know.
6. a handmade ash tray that the p.b. kid made for him. he adores it.



close ups of the evidence in case you couldn't see them too well.



i love him, but he's not kissing me with those cigar lips.



everyone should have a mermaid brush.
or a hibiscus brush

i like the white mermaid, but i'm not sure about the boob coverage.
they look dirty.
like she rubbed an ashtray all over her chest.
plus it looks totally lacking in the support category.
and i need all the support i can get.

which would you choose?



wonderful LMN honored me with this award and i am so appreciative and thank her from the bottom of my bloggy heart. she is that rare mix of intelligence, sensitivity, artful eye and zest for life. and i promise the next time i am in seattle, we are going to cafe ladro and sitting down for a couple or three hours of non-stop talking and then we are going to walk the city with cameras in hand and we're going to take lots and lots of pictures.
and we're going to laugh.
a lot.
i give her this award as well.


heidi who is so terrific and insightful was already awarded this. can i award her as well?

and i pass this award on to the following who i also adore:

all i ever wanted creative, so very funny, interesting, worldly and wise.

blue hearts so smart and so talented. she amazes me as she weaves a story that is interesting, sophisticated and intelligent.

rambling mommy a wonderful woman doing an amazing job of raising children and staying true to herself.

the one little one she literally leaps off the page with her amazing creative energy and zest for life. so adorable.

random blessings and curses my dear friend tracy who is so very clever and whom i love.

self-portrait tuesday

in
january's challenge is "album covers"




i am woman:

since having my surgery
therefore i am underpaid
on the verge of a nervous breakdown

i couldn't pick just one, so how about you make some suggestions or choose one for me?

when i was a teenager, helen reddy's anthem
was the single most important song for all of us of the female persuasion.
even men wished they were women after hearing that song.
well...maybe some of them anyway.
so hear me roar
in numbers too big to ignore.

grr.