christmas decorating & some gift thoughts

this is rudolph.  he has been with our family for a very long time.  my father worked for us news & world report for his entire career. he was head of the economics department & was considered one of people in washington who really understood the federal budget.  back in the old days, you went to work for a company & worked there for most of your working life & they took care of you.  every year at christmas, in addition to a bonus, no doubt, the magazine gave each employee a little christmas trinket.  rudolph came to us in that manner.  when mom & dad moved to williamsburg & mom started to prune her christmas decorations, i took the rudolph.  he holds many memories for me. after we took possession of rudolph, our cat at the time, squiggy, enjoyed chewing on rudolph & took out an eye & his nose.  i forget when the mouth went.  sadiedog, as a puppy, pretty much finished the job  so rudolph has no eyes, no nose & the barest hint of a mouth.  & i love him- he brings back memories of christmas from a younger time & reminds me of the house in which i spent most of my childhood.  if i had a sense of smell, i'm sure he smells a little bit.  as i look at the picture, i see his ears have been damaged a bit as well.  we had a whole collection of little christmas trinkets, such as these, courtesy of us news.  it must have been kind of nice to feel so taken care of - corporations were quite paternalistic then.  i can feel for the UAW-  not that i agree with the bailout- but the auto workers have been involved in a paternalistic system for years while the rest of us have been adapting t0 the changing corporate & work environment over the past 20-25 years.  it must be quite a jolt for the auto workers to enter the current environment & the way things are done.  

this is my tree i did for the office.  i like the juxtaposition of the old & new.  the ornaments are vintage ornaments i have been collecting- it's my new thing to collect. & they are a good thing to collect because they break so easily.  i lose at least 5 every year.  luckily, the ones i lose are the plain round ones.  

now for my first quiz.  does anyone know what this is?  i found it on ebay for the woman i see for clinical supervision.  a brief sidenote here-  if you are not a therapist, clinical supervision may not make sense for someone like myself who has been in the field for 25 years.  when we work with clients, it is very easy for our personal histories & opinions &issues to get involved in the process & working with a clinical supervisor helps to keep it clean.  the field of therapy places a premium on ensuring that the values, beliefs, etc of the therapist do not unduly enter the therapeutic process.  it can be a rather tricky thing at times.  so back to the item.  can anyone identify it's purpose?  i'll answer in a couple of days.  

here's a nice christmas idea-  this is felted soap.  in the shower, the wool creates a nice lather- the soap is homemade.  i wish i could remember where i found it.  i'll have to do some research.  

i found this a couple years ago.  i can't show the detail.  these are custom-made bangles & the artist will put anything you like on it.  it is two sided.  i had her put some stanzas from one of my all-time favorite poems on it-  

          Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

           And sorry I could not travel both 

            And be one traveler, long I stood

            And looked down one as long I could.

and on the other side

             Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

             And I- I took the one less travelled by

             And that has made all the difference.

that gives you an idea of how much she can fit on the bracelet.  that holds so many possibilities.  i can think of lots of things to have engraved on bracelets for different people.  the seller is delias thompson & she can be found on etsy.  engraving words on jewelry is quite common & quite a business these days.  one of the originals to do it was jeanine payer & her work remains some of the most exquisite.  she uses a lot of rumi quotes- another favorite poet of mine.  her work is quite delicate & sadly, for me, expensive.  i do think she was the pioneer in the use of words & phrases on jewelry.  

well that's it for today.  not a very exciting post.  maybe i'll be more exciting tomorrow (or next week) depending on when i post.  

the lameness continues

so here i am once again, several weeks out from having posted.  blogs are kind of like work at times.  it can be challenging to think about what might engage one- including myself- what is worthy of taking the time to place it in black & white?

we visited my mom & dad on the way back from the outer banks after thanksgiving &  i was telling her i was doing a blog.  she wondered what a blog was.  my mom has nothing to do with the computer- she does not even do email.  my favorite technology story about mom is when we were riding back from washington, d.c.  i have often given my parents "experience" gifts- they certainly don't need any more things.  we had gone to washington to see an exhibit at the phillips, i think.  anyway, it was raining quite hard & i pulled off at a rest area to call danny & my dad (back when cell phones were the size of a brick!).  he didn't answer & i left a message.  he called me back about 10 minutes later (we were still sitting at the rest area waiting out the worst of the downpour) & i answered & we talked.  gigi (my mom's nickname) was quiet for a few minutes & then she said "how did he know where we were?  how did he know where to call?"  

anyway, i was having a hard time trying to explain it, so i decided to look it up.  many sites described it as a personal journal.  there are, of course, different kinds of blogs.  corporate or company blogs are getting very popular.  they estimate there are about 112 million blogs published now- some of these are very dormant. that's alot of personal journals, doncha think?  (my sarah palin imitation)  one site said many people find the doing of one therapeutic, even if no one reads it.  i would agree with that.  i would like people to read my blog, though (people i know- i can't imagine why anyone else would be interested), so then comes the challenge of making it interesting & engaging.  also of finding a topic.  & then writing about it.  on a daily or so basis.  it seems so simple....  when i told a friend about the blog, she made a comment about needing a venue for self-absorption, or something like that.  i suppose that's true, though i don't like to think about myself like that.  

anyway, we're getting ready for christmas here.  & i mean christmas at my house- not the holidays...  here is a shot of one of my favorite ornaments- i just love homer!!!!

& i've been really getting into vintage ornaments lately.  here is one of my favorite vintage ornaments that i have.  i have a lot of the plain ones, but this one is really cool & in fairly good shape as well.

i was inspired to get the trees up because i hosted the holiday dinner for my investment club, HERS.  HERS stands for Her Early Retirement System & i've been a member about 10 years now.  we are losing right now, just like everyone, but we have also made some wise buys & i have learned a great deal about the stock market. plus, i've met some great women.  my neighbor, michele, is a personal chef & caters the meal for us.  we never know what we are having until that night.  it is an i

ncredible meal.  here is the entree- you are looking at shrimp with black mission figs in a rosemary shallot cider sauce,

parmesan polenta & sweet & sour red cabbage.  this was followed a dessert to die for-  dark chocolate cherry torte with ganache glaze & eggnog mousse.those are just two of the courses.  that's the chef in my kitchen there- behind her stands our server for the evening- what a nice guy, huh?  i confess i find myself feeling a bit like oprah these days-  i had lost about 12 pounds & was feeling okay-  it's all come back on since thanksgiving.  not good....  & christmas to come yet...

more shopping ideas & mike deserves our empathy

these frames are availaible from mary-kelley decoupage.  you can have them personalized in any way you like & they have some very pretty frames & backgrounds.  i put a rumi quote on one for wedding gift- it seemed well received.  they made an error with the personalization that was not entirely their fault.  they offered to replace the frame & redo it if i would pay shipping.  very nice customer service- something in short supply these days.

here we have a calendar- each page is one month. aren't they beautiful?  it is a pricey calendar- but, we do look at it every day, don't we?  this is available from www.paper-source.com.

these are knives- i think they look fabulous.  it appears that they can stand on the counter like that- quite the display.  they come in orange as well.  

look what else i found - this is a useful & great little tool to have around.  works for trying

 to manipulate small objects such as jewelry repairs.  this is from www.vinçon.com which is based in spain, but is accustomed to mailing to the US.  once again, we lose on the exchange rate.  but, boy, do they have some cool stuff!  the bathtub drain plug from yesterday is also from vinçon.  it's a great website.

now, most anyone who knows me knows i love to shop & i love to look.  i love getting catalogs & scouring the globe for that unique & perfect gift.  catalogs help me to travel inexpensively & see what is out there.  and the deluge of catalogs starts in mid- october & goes through to the new year.  every evening when i arrive home from work, there is a new stack of brightly colored catalogs awaiting my perusal.  of course, some don't even make the cut- they go straight to recycling without being opened at all.  & for all this,

i have lots of empathy for mike the mailman, the bearer of these missives from hopeful entrepreneurs & corporations.  this is the take for about a week and a half-  i worry for mike's back.... 

i started this post a while back & just changed the date.  is that cheating?  & then i publish with a back-dated date- helps me look less lame.  please forgive me my deceitfulness..