Second anniversary giveaway...

Edited to add: Drawing was closed and winners announced in a separate post of June 21.
Winners: Stickhorsecowgirls and Stephanie
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Took another little road trip today with the crazy cat lady.


I surprised her by pulling up to her house bright and early this morning, and sitting on my car horn until she came outside in her pajamas. (That I could blast the horn and she could come out in her pajamas, with neither bringing complaints from neighbors, are just a part of the joys of living in the country.) I instructed her to get dressed, because she was joining me on my excursion whether she liked it or not. She did, by the way...like it that is. Doesn't she look happy?


We travelled to a city where the traffic is so notoriously bad, that you can take a pretty decent photo of a landmark while stuck on the interstate highway.


And we made our way to our destination. Here we found fun, inspiration, answers to problems, and a darn good workout too.

Now, since this week marks my second bloggiversary, I am offering a fabulous giveaway. No one is too close or too far to enter, so leave a comment on this post with your best guess as to where we went and what we did on our little adventure. At noon my time on Sunday, June 21, I will draw a winner from among the correct answers, or whoever comes close. :) The prize will be a gorgeous piece of handmade jewelry by yours truly...it's not finished yet, but the ingredients are pictured here...


Be sure to have an e-mail address or link to a blog in your comment, so I can contact you for mailing instructions if you are my winner.

And if you need a slight hint, clicking on the photos to enlarge them may help a little...only don't click on the one of me and CCL...there's no hints in that one, and it would be pretty frightening to see us full screen.

Old same...

After Snow Flower died, I still had half of my life ahead of me. My rice-and-salt days were not over, but in my heart I began my years of sitting quietly. For most women, this begins with their husband's death. For me, it began with Snow Flower's death. I was "the one who has not died," but things kept me from being completely still or quiet. My husband and family needed me to be a wife and mother. My community needed me to be Lady Lu. And then there were Snow Flower's children, whom I needed--so that I could make amends to my laotong. But it's hard to be truly generous and behave in a forthright manner when you don't know how. (from Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See)

Sometimes words leave me wanting. Like the phrase 'best friend.' I don't know if it's because it is over used, or if it's just lacking of deep meaning, but it feels very inadequate.

I recently read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and in it the word 'laotong...old same' was used, and it came so much closer to the relationship that I mean.

As I drew near the end of the book, I hated to see my time with it over. Then, in the last chapter, I read the paragraph quoted above, and it was as if the writer had reached her hand into my chest and scooped out my heart. She got the grief of an old same for her other half exactly right in those few words.

I was so moved by it, that I did something I have never done before. I wrote a fan letter. Or rather a fan e-mail. Just a note of appreciation for the pleasure reading her work brought to me really...and for letting me know that I don't grieve alone (for how could a writer get something so right if they didn't know and feel it?) And today I received a lovely, and very personal, e-mail reply from the author. It was such a sweet surprise to receive on this very day...the birthday of my old same.

And in memory thereof, I say, I remember and honor you today, Allison. I miss you.

Magnetic bookmark...

I really wanted to post tonight, but didn't have anything I really wanted to write about. So I surfed instead. And I ran across this great little idea. So at 10:30 pm, I jumped up, grabbed a magnetic advertisement off of my refrigerator, and ran around the house collecting the rest of the supplies to make one. I finished making it at 10:47 pm! That's seventeen minutes start to finish...including the gathering of materials! Doesn't get much better than that to me. It was so cute and so easy, I HAD to write about it.

Thanks go to Amy at Craft Chi for the great tutorial. Check it out.

I also ran across an awesome idea for a 'party' idea on another blog, and this would be a great party favor for it. I'll write about it a little later.

How old are you today, Caitlyn...

I'm so tired...

Tired of coughing. It seems to have gotten worse again. I haven't left the house since last Monday's trip to doctor and pharmacy. Partly because I don't want to pass this virus on to anyone else, and partly because I don't want to pick up anything else while my resistance may be down.

And tired from coughing. I have woken up with such terrible coughing during the last few nights, that I actually thought I might pull a muscle or burst a blood vessel. Then I'm awake for hours, waiting for it to ease up.

That's all. I'll stop whining now.

Well now I'm really feeling better...

...because I just won my first giveaway ever over at Berlin's Whimsy. I'm so looking forward to sitting down with a copy of Patchwork Style.

Thanks, Amber.

Amber's blog, Berlin's Whimsy, always has wonderful recipes and lovely ideas, and is well worth a visit.

Housework is hazardous to your health...

As previously blogged about, I spent last weekend doing chores. Even though I had a headache, and moments of vague ill feelings, I persevered. By Sunday my throat hurt, and I started coughing. Monday I felt even worse, so I went to the doctor and got some sympathy and cough syrup and advice to take it easy and drink lots of liquids and basically just give my system time to fight off the virus.

It is now Wednesday. No more headaches. Though my voice is now gone, the cough seems better. I don't want to share my germs, so I'm staying home. My energy level is really low, so obeying the direction to take it easy is welcomed. All in all, I feel like I'm on my way back to normal.

Here's my observation:

Household chores = bad. Taking it easy = good. :)