May 16 2017

And then… Somewhere in the Midst of the Crazy… I remembered I had a Blog

Author: Kerry

Sooooo I think I only remember to write when I think I am dying…. So naturally this blog post comes after yet another nasty bout of infections …. Kidney and Sinus…. See my previous posts about CMV and learning I have no antibodies…. but I realized that I have shared my latest (Over the last year) fascination with street art…. and Ive posted so much about my #FairyCity and Fairy doors… well… this year I managed a #ThoughtBubble series… and its been all kinds of fun… Here are some of the pieces.

It has been so fun to place these and watch the few people ive caught looking at them… I ofcourse enjoy painting them more than anything else… But the real story of the year continues to be the magic happening behind the library here in town…. it has slowly become a community art project… people are adding to my little fairy city… home made fairies… rearranging the magic back there… upkeeping it for me… and well…. Its kind of magic.

I have so much more to say but its been so long since ive pulled out my old friend to write on that it has a million updates to install and is about to restart itself upon finishing its OS update… So I will leave this here for now…. But I am here! and I feel my time to write is resurfacing…. Love Love Love!

Apr 05 2017

However Tenuous the Connection….

Author: Kerry

Image from WikiCommons, taken by Jwaller and used under the Creative Commons Agreement

The Light and Shade Challenge

The Challenge is to take whatever is sparked by the picture and/or the quotation, however tenuous or remote the connection, and see how much fun you can have in 500 words.

However Tenuous and Remote the connection…. When I looked at this image I saw a doorway to another place and time…. Archways often feel this way to me… Another thought sparked is Street Artists… The spray paint on the walls remind me of this…. the charm of the cobble stone street… the age of the trees…. the stone retaining wall…. everything about it is stark and with the lighting of the sky… quite dismal…. But somewhere under those ages trees and fallen leave is some magic… a portal to another world…

Here in my neck of the woods…. and well… Ive been shipping them all over (Even internationally) I have started a street art project… and honestly… its why I havent been writing… Just til sprinkler season 🙂 On instagram using the hashtag #FairyCity you will find these little reminders that magic does exist… and the smallest of gestures can change the world in big ways…. and that the world is not always dreary as it seems….

Thank you to my friends at the light and shade blog…. I love the prompts… Im sorry I havent been participating… but I have been watching and reading… while painting 🙂

Feb 02 2017

Winter Montage

Author: Kerry

A photo journal entry…show us what winter looks like in your town.

So little known fact… when your small avoids senior pictures… and you wait until the last minute to take them… you take them in the snow!

That same small with his childhood friend… they go to rival schools… and are fake fighting in front of the third rival school…

Because graduation announcements should be fun… and the fact that he is growing up makes me wanna punch him in the face!

They are pretending to steal this car… which if I werent photographing… they probably would

This funny tilted sidewalk picture was probably my favorite….

They were freezing!!

Stay Warm Folks!!! We have more winter ahead!

Jan 26 2017

Live like the Italian

Author: Kerry

My son is leaving for Italy this June… right after graduation…. Lately being an American woman … an american anything…has been both a source of pride… and … well lets just say we will get this all sorted out.

But the Infamous

Light and Shade Challenge

… who I used to mostly respond with fiction short stories to their prompts… but I find reality needing so much more attention these days… have prompted my gypsy soul…. that travels the world… which apparently I have given my Small … a taste of Italy.

Image from WikiCommons, taken by Andrea Pavenello and used under the Creative Commons Agreement

Yes.. I realize this is a bit of a stretch with this image… but it is what it sparked in my mind… and this is my blog… so we are going with it

Eat a Light dinner….Buy natural… fresh foods–preferably organic. Italians frequent local farmers’ markets every week and buy breads at bakeries,… fish and fish mongers and meat at butchers. Or… better yet… learn to grow your own food… Sure… they have supermarkets… but on regular occasion… food is purchased fresh for use the same day…. Dinner is about celebrating a day of hard work…. and family…. Italians respect their elders much more than Americans. They also dote on their children and consider them as the most precious things in their lives… Slow Down and Stop Rushing… Most of the time we do not take a lunch break… or eat on the run during the day… Dinner can be an all night event… talk… drink… be merry…. and enjoy your time… Americans drink far more wine and hard liquor than Italians do… even though most Italians will have wine and occasional cocktails…. The difference is they drink wine with meals for the taste–not to forget the stresses of the day… Italians will also have a small aperitif before a meal… Drink for the taste and with meals to drink like an Italian… Embrace people… The Italian hug and kiss. Old men walk arm in arm–women do too… Even men embrace and kiss each other on the cheek… We are way too distant from each other… Hugging a friend to show how glad you are to see them is a great thing… Don’t let a day go by without touching another human being… and animal… pets count! Take a walk with your family or friends. Each night in every town in Italy, Italians get out after dinner to walk in the piazza or the main viale (boulevard). They call it the passeggiata It’s a time to relax and digest… Meet and visit neighbors… relatives and friends… It’s also a time to shut off the TV and just be still for a moment. Finally…. Learn to live with less…Smaller houses and apartments and smaller cars… That is the Italian way… oh and PIZZA!

Jan 12 2017

Sunday Morning is my favorite holiday

Author: Kerry

Every Sunday Morning I get a playdate with my favorite young men/toddlers and the newest little tiny princess…. I take this opportunity to take them places that they do not normally get to go… and it of course makes me the first to take them to the zoo… or to ride a roller coaster… or to go down a water slide… It has become quite legendary…. a great example of some of the lengths I go can be found throughout this blog…. but Ironically the favorite story ever came from a missed week… and if you missed… you’re going to want to see this – GrandParents Day Out

But just this morning I was tweeting our local news channel and museum about a lego exhibit… and then I saw the prompt from Kat…. must be a sign.

List your favorite local kid-friendly activities.

Im pretty lucky… I live in a beautiful area…. that has all four seasons in their full glory…. Surrounded by mountains… and I live in the desert…. So there is quite a bit to do… However they are little…. and Sunday is ummmmm Sacred around here? Meaning nothing is open… ever… LOL so we get creative…

This weekend we will be at The Leonardo (The lego exhibit sounds amazing)

Some of our other small child adventures have included… The Zoo... The Natural History Museum…. Bounce Houses are always a hit!

The list goes on and on…. In fact we have been doing this for over a year now… If you don’t have a regularly scheduled adventure date with the smalls who hold your heart… I highly suggest it… here are a few images of pure joy 🙂 (You are just going to have to tilt your head… Its too early to fix some of these)

Ofcourse some of our favorite memories is just at home… in our toy room… with a home made breakfast and arts and crafts.

Jan 11 2017

Hope Sucks. Just Sayin

Author: Kerry

Never deprive someone of hope — it may be all they have

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First and foremost… if you’re feeling hopeless… I want you to close this page…

I know that things will get better for you… I also know that a big part of that will depend on you choosing for things to be different.

But when lost in the rabbit hole of hopelessness…. it can be really hard to make that choice for yourself…. So save this read for when you have found your hope again.

I don’t know what it was … a divorce.. a death … a hormonal shift in the balance of the force…..

But I encourage you to cry the good cry … Listen to some music… Go for a walk… Meditate…. be kind to yourself … if you’ve had hope before… you can feel hopeful again.

And when you do… I want you to ditch it as soon as possible.

Yes… I’m calling bullshit on some kinds of hope at this point in our lives

I once heard a quote that was something like this…. “Hope is the most poetic form of self-abuse.”

Decide now that you’re going to stop hoping…. hoping your soulmate will show up… hoping the bills get paid… hoping you lose weight… hoping that Carrie Fischer doesn’t die before she finishes filming the Star Wars movies (okay… I totally hoped for that one)

Start knowing that you are going to work to get what you want… or its equivalent… or something even better.

When it is beyond your control? (Star Wars) do what you can that is in your control…. Hug your mom extra tight today… or your daughter… Take care of yourself…. stand up and talk about mental health issues…. etc.

Hoping for things to change is a pretty sounding way of staying right where you are.

I know we have the power to change things… Bigger than us… But it has to be done when we have hope… So everyone can give hope to the hopeless..,. because we do not need it… we are going to rise.

Another Epiphany on life brought to you by my favorite writing prompts!

The Light and Shade Challenge

Jan 05 2017

Bridges are the roads to dreams…

Author: Kerry

Image from WikiCommons, taken by Richard Webb and used under the Creative Commons Agreement

As in a dream… a bridge in waking life can be a point of connection

One must ask –

What the bridge is connecting and what it is crossing… What is on the other side?

What is under the bridge? A river of emotions… Railroad tracks may to a better place…. A chasm is something that is missing or undefinable… or something that you have overcome or given up?

A Bridge represents making a connection… if you are afraid to cross the bridge if you are unsure of the future or whatever lies on the other side…. If you are crossing the bridge without fear than you are ready to face whatever the future holds in store If you are standing on the bridge…. may it be offering you the support you need to deal with life and love (and whatever lies below). If you have crossed the bridge or are looking back over the bridge … may you have patience for the rest of us still catching up.

Let’s not be afraid falling off a bridge … fear of failure …or unsure you can make it to the other side …You may be afraid of making a connection with someone… you may be afraid of the obstacles in front of you… or you may be afraid of the changes that you are going through…. But life is not going to wait for you … cross the bridge… your feelings will catch up later.

Even a broken bridge or a bridge that is uncrossable…. needs to be fixed before you can move on.

Bridging The Gap.

Don’t Cross That Bridge Until You Come To It.

That’s Water Under The Bridge.

Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

This is 2017.

This Bridge Rant was inspired by some of my favorite people from across the pond… and as always gave me much reflection and perspective into my writer’s mind. I missed them so much! Thank you for the prompt!!

The Light and Shade Challenge

Jan 05 2017

New Years Resolutions create Wormhole or Dark Matter or a Tear in the Space Time Continuum

Author: Kerry

Mr Amazing and Small Child would be repulsed by my lack of scientific knowledge or basis for my claim made in the title of this blog… but they will never be in danger of falling in stated Worm Hole because that would require reading my blog… and honestly they have to listen to me talk… so they’ve done more than enough.

1. Share your 2017 New Year Resolution. How did last year’s turn out?

You know what? I’m an overachiever … I mean I am really the type of woman that likes to go above and beyond the call of duty…. Not to float my own boat or anything but I am going to take two of the writers prompts this week… because I am just sitting here waiting to be discovered and recognized for my many unusual talents… word twisting being one of them… So here is your bonus prompt.

6. What were you blogging about a year ago? What has changed since then?

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that possibly last year at this time I was writing about Resolutions…. and here is the beginning of the Wormhole Time Continuum Tear in the Dark Matter of my life… Clicking HERE will open another window where you can read what I was writing about resolutions last year at this time… where in said writings you will be invited yet again to click somewhere to preview the previous years writings…. and so forth.

Maybe the root of my Dark Matter is the fact that I am old… and have had the luxury of vomiting my thoughts into this keyboard for many moons…. or we could go with the Worm Hole theory… because it sounds nicer.

My 2016 Resolution was to pursue that which sets my soul on fire.

And did I ever. I painted for an entire year. I finally gave up the nicotine gum. I lost 60lbs. I exercised more than other years… okay I played pokemon go…. I travelled to a new state and spent time with some life longers while celebrating our 5th anniversary as Mr and Mrs Amazing and the Smalls (It’s a circus act really)… I worked hard… I took time for myself. I had yet another (and final from angel girl) grandchild… and guess what! Its a girl! a breathing… smiling… beautiful doppelganger of my Angel Girl. (for those that don’t remember her first girl)

So if I were to suggest my plans for the next year were to do more of the same… I’d just be cursing myself to do the exact opposite… because seriously… that is what I tend to do…. I do not know if it is self sabotage or self preservation… but I do know this… I am going to do whatever it is that causes my soul to dance inside my body… I am going to be kind… I am going to believe that there is good in everything… Even our current political situation… because I saw people as I volunteered at a local shelter this holiday season … I saw them give more than ever before… because they were afraid that it was needed more than ever before… and even if that is all the positive that comes out of our current President Elect…. it is still positive.

So in keeping with Tradition of very vague resolutions to ensure successful achievement I choose to do this!

So much love and light to you and yours in this year 2017!

This is one year ago… almost to the day

This is earlier this month… The level of Soul Fire is obvious.

Dec 29 2016

Merry Musings of a seasonally affected Mind.

Author: Kerry

Write a blog post inspired by the word: Merry.

(and just like that, like I didn’t take a year off from the writers workshop… here is my post.)

I love the word Merry! To be Merry is to be cheerful… light-hearted…carefree…joyful… joyous… festive …happy… gleeful!

Proverbs 17:22 says “A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”

That’s one of the reasons I love to decorate for Christmas (and all the seasons for that matter)…it creates a merry…joyful….and festive atmosphere….and that kind of atmosphere is good for us! Beauty inspires! Beauty lifts our spirit! We could all use some of that right now… It refreshes us.

This Tradition of crazy amounts of red and green decor… It can give us a positive outlook on life… It’s a way of celebrating the light in the darkest part of our year… Seasonal depression hits for me… like clockwork… the day after Halloween.

I can feel my shoulders slack and my mood weaken. November is usually busy enough to stave off the desperation that will hit later… thankfully… But the fear and paranoia are there: The sun is setting before 5 p.m. and one night spent bored and alone in the gathering dark might pull me under permanently… and honestly it is something I force myself to keep going to do all the things all the way through the 21st of December… when suddenly my brain magically starts to believe it…. and I feel good again…

I have depression all year… It bobs up like a buoy, sneakily but regularly…I become reclusive… because showing my face when I feel awful inside is deceitful… I frequently believe my depression isn’t real… or my anxiety is from lack of sleep… so I end up feeling worse about both.

If you find yourself scrolling these pictures of Snowman Bathrooms and Painted windows (yes yes… I did all that magic LOL) let me remind you… Our environment and the atmosphere around us can effect our emotions… and our emotions can affect our physical health. Dr. Don Colbert says ” How you feel in your heart can show up in your body, for your heart and body are more powerfully connected than you have ever realized.” So even the tiniest bit of candle glow or sparkle here and there can remind us that the days will start becoming longer again… and the sun will return…. life will come back to the frozen ground and trees… and the earth will be Merry again!

“The holly’s up, the house is bright,

the tree is ready, the candles alight. “~German Carol

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,
just like the ones I used to know
May your days be merry and bright,
and may all your Christmases be white! ~Irving Berlin 1942

Annnnnnnd…. Now to take it all down again 🙂

Oct 02 2016

Grandparents Day Out! – The greatest story ever written… ever… fight me!

Author: Kerry

And on this sunday morning… on these blank little books… this magic is being delivered… with Donuts!

Blank Books

GRANDPARENTS DAY OUT

10/02/2016

This was a Sunday morning like no other. Grandma Kerry and Grandpa Benjamin were relaxing on the couch waiting for their Grandchildren to come!

The soft sun rays were shining through the window as the gentle wind blew. They felt very special as they quietly whispered to each other. They said, “It’s almost 10 o’clock! ”

The phone rang suddenly, “Hello?”

The best mother in the whole wide world was on the other end of that phone call “I don’t think we can make it! My most precious children have ‘<Insert Whatever Virus Here>’”

“OH NO!” Exclaimed the Grandparents! “You better stay home then! Grandma gets very sick with childhood illnesses!!! But we hope they get better soon!”

Grandpa Benjamin and Grandma Kerry looked at each other …. They were both feeling very sad not to get to have a Sunday Adventure with Jason, Cameron, Jordan and Addison! How could they cheer themselves up?

Grandma Kerry had an idea!

“Grandpa Benjamin, Lets go on an adventure just you and I!” she exclaimed

Grandpa Benjamin nodded his head excitedly “Okay! Let’s go to all the magical places we would never take the kids… because it is way too dangerous! But we are grownups!”

So they snuck out of the house past an Aunt Lacey who was playing Animal Jam at the computer. Tiptoed right by an Uncle Johnathon who was still sleeping, because he can sleep forever! They patted Zip on the head and scratched behind Shadow cats ear and just like that they hopped in their car and took off!

Giggling excitedly after their sneaky escape, they headed toward their first stop. “Remember what Jason said about the place that has Trampolines to Jump and Pools to Swim in?” Grandma Kerry asked Grandpa.

“Ofcourse! He is such a clever boy! If he ever knew the truth!” Grandpa turned the car in the direction of the super secret jump and swim land.

There was not a child in sight as jumping from trampolines into swimming pools was very dangerous! But these grandparents laugh in the face of danger!

“Ha Ha Ha” they laughed as the jumped high into the air and canonballed straight into the water.

Jump and Swim Land

When they surfaced Grandpa Benjamins beard was dripping and Grandma Kerrys black eye makeup was running down her cheeks, but they began to feel the loneliness of missing those magical kids get a little easier.

They jumped several more times. They were so big that their splashes were enormous! It was such a fun time!

“I suppose this would be the perfect time to check on our Rocket Ship! We never have time during the week because of work!” Grandpa said as they floated about the pool.

“Great Idea!” Said Grandma. “We can go there next, because we can never let those fantastic boys and their new little sister know we have it! My Goodness! Can you imagine? Cameron would push all the buttons!”

Grandpa nodded in agreement “Jordan is learning how to push things too, just like they always try to push my speakers!”

They left the windows down as the drove away to let their hair dry because Space was cold and neither of them wanted to get sick because they definitely couldn’t go another Sunday without being able to play with the Grandkids.

They quickly put on their space suits, Grandma’s hair was so long it poked right out of her helmet. Grandpa tucked it in and helped zip it up. He was always taking such good care of people.

3…2…1 BLAST OFF!!!!

And just like that they were off!
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Rocketing through the atmosphere until they were up into the stars in space, and the Earth looked like a big pretty blue marble behind them. They shot past Mars and went through the rings of Saturn but it was just no fun without the kids. So they slingshotted around Jupiter and fell back to Earth knowing that as adventurous as Space Travel was… The best kind of adventures on Sunday Mornings were the ones with their Grandchildren.

Grandma Kerry missed covering Addison’s Face in a bazillion kisses, She missed Jason running and jumping into her arms, She missed stealing Cameron kisses every time he got close enough to her to steal them. She missed fake sneezing at Jordan so that she could sneaky kiss him too! Ah Ah Ah CHOO!!!!

Grandpa Benjamin missed tickling Jason, giving Cameron warm hugs, spinning Jordan around in circles and holding sweet baby Addison!

They looked at each other knowingly as they climbed out of their Rocket Ship.

Grandma held up 7 fingers to Grandpa.

Grandpa held up 7 fingers back to Grandma.

7 days and it would be Sunday again! Their favorite day of the week.

“Cameron asked for Donuts this week” Grandma Kerry told Grandpa Benjamin.

“Jason loooooooooooooooooooves Donuts!” Grandpa said.

“Addison is too little but Jordan is finally old enough to have them too!”

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Off to the bakery they went. Hoping that everyone would get feeling better soon and that Grandma Kerry wouldn’t catch the bug! No Antibodies! Whoever heard of such a thing!

They got enough Donuts for Everyone! Some for Mommy and Daddy, Even Uncle Johnathon and Aunt Lacey!

When their adventure was over they flopped back onto the couch and turned on the TV. They sure hoped that the next 7 days would go by quickly! They just loved Sunday Morning Adventures!!!

G&G