Epilogue

 Odysseus roamed the world for ten years. 

Along the way, he had adventures, met challenges, and learned lessons 

that profoundly changed him.

Now, an Odyssey refers to 

a long, often exhausting, exhilarating, excruciating

transformative journey.

Well... I think that just about sums up this past year for us. 
[and yes, it DOES feel like ten years]

We are still alive and breathing due only to the grace of God. Literally.
I can honestly say that there were days when we didn't think we'd make it through, and nights when we prayed to not wake up the next morning. It's been a nightmare deeper  than anyone who has not walked through in our shoes could ever imagine. [It wasn't about moving, or closing a business. It was about enduring what we thought would kill us: the death of our dreams. Repeatedly. About almost losing my husband, about him almost losing his leg. It was about losing faith in everything... and then finding it again.]


HOWEVER, I won't even begin to try to recount the good, the bad, and the REALLY bad of 2010. I'd rather focus on the blessings that came our way, and the ones we have yet to experience. And there were SO MANY blessings - of healing, of friendship, of generosity, of faith, of provision. And of miracles: the greatest of which is that my husband is alive, walking, with both legs. 

Yes, 2010 is almost over. Finally. 

[Did I just hear a collective shout of joy from blogland?]

And yet...

Here we stand, on the brink of change that will completely redefine our lives & business - yet we are still held captive by the obstacles that visited us (like the spirits visited Jacob Marley) over the course of the last six months. That change may come before the clock strikes twelve Friday night and the beginning of a New Year - or it may not. (NOPE) We can't do a single thing about it, either way (which, truthfully, has been much of the case with everything that has transpired since... well, June). God brought us His promised Blessing by His means, in His timing, and we need to just let Him handle this and all of the details & people involved.That's the lesson: HAVE FAITH. In yourself, in others, in a higher power, in purpose, in truth. Let go of fear, and hang on to faith. Every single day.

But DANG it's hard to be this close and still have to wait for that starting gun to go off. 

Has this journey - Our Odyssey - profoundly changed us? Yes.
And it will continue to, for the rest of our lives... 

God willing, we will never wander the world looking for Home again.

To each and every one of my friends reading this, I pray that the coming year will bring you peace, love, joy, and success in abundance - and pain, sorrow, and loss in infinitesimal amounts. That whatever you have experienced in 2010 will be revealed as for your highest good, to bring you closer to your own authenticity and truth, and the knowledge that you are loved more than you can begin to imagine. Blessings to you...

Miracle of Miracles, Wonder of Wonders!

This may just make up for the {mostly} crummy year that 2010 has been:

Our New House closed escrow today (Tuesday)!

Thank you, GOD!

I awoke this morning with the phrase 'Something FABULOUS is going to happen today!' on my mind. I got up, tiptoed into the kitchen, started the coffee, and went to the window to look out at the beach. Then I said in a voice just barely above a whisper, 'Something FABULOUS is going to happen today!'. Bob was still sleeping just a few feet away {remember, this is a TINY beach cottage!} and I didn't want to wake him. I never actually told him about my 'declaration of Fabulousness'.

Within a few hours, we'd received a phone message from our Realtor telling us that the deal was on an 'any day now' status {no more extensions!}, plus a call from one of our biggest shows offering us a more prominent booth location, AND some good news from our son in Texas. I was pretty blown away by all that!

Then the phone rang again, and with it came news that escrow closed today.

My first thought, I am ashamed to say, was 'Are you SURE?'.

My second thought was 'I don't believe it.'

sigh. How awful, huh? 

I've been made very skeptical by this whole last five months.

But sixty seconds later, I was bawling my eyes out because it had finally sunk in. Five minutes later, we were out the door, in the truck, and flying across the island to our new home. {OK, well, it won't be home for a few days - we have details to finalize and then some cleaning to do before we inhabit it}. 

We stood there, looking at it, and burst into tears. 

Offered our thanks to God for His promise to us, for delivering it, and especially for the many many hands and hearts that are a part of this whole thing. Made a call to the people who made this all possible to say THANK YOU, while crying and smiling like idiots.

Then I looked up at the house and said 'Get Ready! You have NO IDEA what's in store for you - the process might hurt a bit, but you are gonna' LOVE IT!'. Bob laughed as I added 'Which is probably EXACTLY what God Himself said to us before this whole ordeal began.... we just didn't hear Him.'

I bet God was laughing, too. ;0) 

And you can bet that EVERY DAY for the rest of my life, 

I am going to wake up saying 

'Something FABULOUS is going to happen today!'

 

Keep Moving Forward

I am so completely OVER Christmas that I started taking down the decor {minimal as it was} tonight. I've replaced my online profile photos here and on facebook with non-holiday ones, and redesigned my blog banner without the jingle bell wreath image. 

Tomorrow, I have a plan to bring in a few bare branches and foofify them with the white coffee-filter paper flowers that formed my erstwhile 'Christmas Tree'....creating sort of a cross between winter and spring decor, I guess. My mind feels stuck in winter, but hopeful for spring... metaphorically speaking. Which I guess is why it was just ready to have Christmas over and done with by this evening.

For the weeks that we have been here at the beach cottage, in limbo, I've been reading business books like crazy {making up for literally years of not doing so because I am always 'too busy'}. So you can imagine how buzzed I am with ideas, plans, goals, dreams, outlines, business plans, growth charts, and brainstorming session results. Bob and I have undertaken a marketing course of sorts - reading, discussing, and brainstorming a book that is quite literally cracking our brains wide open to new ideas in every area of business. I also read Michael J. Fox's autobiographical book 'Always Looking Up' {an appealing title to a gal whose favorite quote is Walt Disney's 'Keep Moving Forward'!} and found it to be remarkable, insightful, and inspiring. I highly recommend it!

All of this has contributed to a scenario where Deb is very literally in position, amped up, and awaiting the starting gun. When that metaphorical shot goes off, LOOK OUT!

As part of that, I stayed away from our house today. 

Bob really wanted to drive over there, but I just couldn't. I want our FIRST Christmas there to be our memory - not this one, not driving into the driveway and sitting there staring at an empty house that we are still waiting to get into. Nope. I want our first Christmas there to be the one I imagine.... so I can wait for next year to get it. And honestly, I can {and it looks like I'll HAVE to} wait until 'next year' - 2011 - for our house. For our goals and dreams to begin manifesting into reality. What an exciting way to start a year... I am so grateful. Impatient, yes, but SO grateful...

Um, Lord? That 'Moving Forward' part can commence ANY time now... 

just fire off that starting gun...

{Images Mine}

Spirit & Song

The music of Christmas moves my heart. From the opening keystrokes of 'Christmastime Is Here' heralding 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' and the clear-as-a-bell voice that begins 'Said the night wind to the little lamb...' to David Bowie and Bing Crosby crooning 'Little Drummer Boy' in harmony, I am drawn to a reflection on the season by its soundtrack. It's always been this way...

As a child, I sang with my friends Kim & Nancy up in front of our church each month, our little 'Strawberry Girls Trio' presenting Pastor Royal Blue with a fresh strawberry pie each time - his favorite. At Christmas, we'd perform as part of the Christmas chorale. I also sang in the childrens' choir, and aspired to one day reach the dizzying heights of one of the levels of the all-adult 'Singing Christmas Tree' that engulfed nearly the entire stage in our church sanctuary each Holiday season. (We moved before I had the chance). 

In junior high, I was in the girls' ensemble and theater choir (no, not like GLEE!) at school. Each spring, we performed an annual musical (Oliver one year, West Side Story another) under the adept direction of a former operatic star and instructor, Mrs. Thoreson. I remember those huge shows - but my fondest memories are of the small, intimate Holiday chorales.

In the historic auditorium at Wilshire Junior High, built of concrete arches and columns that looked eons old, with creaky wood floors and dusty crystal chandeliers, we made music come to life. Each Christmas, we choir members entered that dimmed theater clad in white robes and holding a single battery-operated candle - the light from them piercing the room's darkness like stars penetrate the night sky. We sang as we walked single file slowly down the four aisles toward the stage, our soft volume growing as more of us entered. By the end of the song, we had surrounded the audience, holding our candles, the music reaching far above to the arched rafters of the venerable old building...

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace


Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born


Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Listen here

and here

I sang second soprano - the harmony in high key. I can still do it. 

Whenever I hear the song, I am transported to those two evenings back in 1974 and 1975. I am surrounded by the presence of the Spirit of Christmas, and of the reverence that my teacher gave this solemn night. I remember seeing my family sitting in the seats, watching me with smiles on their faces. Oh, to see some of those faces again: my grandfather, grandmother, and uncle...

Many Christmas Eves since, after the family hubbub is over, I have walked outside into the clear or rainy or snowy night, and softly sung this song up to the sky... my prayer, my invocation, my blessing. {I have always wanted to go to a midnight mass and see another choir perform this song in this manner... not sure if that is possible, but I can hope. Maybe this is the year for that?}

There was another song that we sang, that I loved... it's rare to hear it anymore, as it was an old Elizabethan hymn. A difficult melodic line, harmonic structure, and rhythm made it hard work to learn - but once our girls' ensemble did, and we sang it out soft and clear in that incredible theatre, it lived and breathed and left audiences speechless. It still sings to this day in my heart...

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming from tender stem hath sprung

of Jesse's lineage coming, as men of old have sung

It came, a flow'ret bright, amid the cold of winter

when half-spent was the night.

Listen here.

I wish I had the chance to see Mrs. Thoreson again, and thank her for what she gave us.

We are blessed that there was no 'P.C.' concern then, no uproar about the song content. 

There was only a teacher who shared her gift of song & spirit with the children who crossed her path... and gave us an everlasting gift. 

I wish you all a Christmas filled with joy, love, and an unmistakable awareness of the Spirit surrounding you... and if you catch me singing as I drive in the car or while I am wrapping gifts, now you know why.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.... Well, You Know....

While our little beach cottage isn't decorated to the nines for the Holidays, 

I decided that the gifts we are sending out this year SHOULD be! 

As usual I hit the dollar store & wallys for wrapping supplies -
seriously, I just can't see spending a fortune on stuff that gets tossed out.
When it comes to wrapping, it's about how it LOOKS, not what it COST.

Happy red paper (it says 'naughty or nice?') a few solid red foil bags,

and some white styro snowflakes were all I used.

I made the tags from white cardstock, cut & lined in red pen, 

then used red stickers to spell out each recipient's name. Easy-Peasy!
{They also pack flat, which I had to do for the big box that went to Texas,
so the snowflakes made a nice 'bow substitute'.}

Grandson Numbah One gets a few...

Yes, he's spoiled. ;0)

His gifts are actually for him to use at Grampy & Grammy's house!

(He has TWO rooms full of toys at home. Seriously.)

In our family, we adults draw names on Thanksgiving for an ornament exchange.

I drew our daughter Beth, and found the PERFECT ornament for her!

{ no, it does NOT have anything to do with moving boxes }

New Lil' Man, Grandson Numbah Three,
has been spoiled with gifts for the past six months, pre-arrival,

so he gets a little something special for the season. ;0)

NEXT year, he'll join the ranks of his spoiled cousins!

Grandson Numbah Two Jameson down in Texas 

will get his box of gifts in the next few days.

I tried to wrap myself and climb into the box,

but it weighed too much for the Post Office to accept. :0(

The present GRAMMY really wants? 

All of them together, here in Washington, in our house, next Christmas!

I'm a Grammy - AGAIN!

In the weeeeeeeee hours of Saturday morning, 

our third grandson made his debut!

All is well, and he's resting with Mommy & Daddy now.

We paid a short visit to meet him

and then came home to pour over photos of his adorableness. ;0)

What a wonderful miracle for Christmas, huh?!

Looking at our daughter holding him, 

I really had a different version of Christmas in my heart. 

It all began so simply, so filled with love and family - 

I think we all need to remember that this time of year.

Happy Holidays . Merry Christmas

Happy Hannukah . Merry Festivus!

Enclosed Snowmobile / Cargo Trailer SOLD!

SOLD!

 

Ask for Bob

ba ba ba BLING, baby!

Need a swanky lil' something for a gift exchange or stocking stuffer?

I'm selling these marvelous PurseHooks(TM) over on our Retreat blog - 

yep, you can shop Retreat ONLINE!

Click here for info & purchasing

Temporary Home

We  went and sat on 'our' front steps for a few minutes yesterday. The house sits empty, as it has for months. Although we are purchasing it, with some generous help, it is still not yet 'ours' legally. Still waiting for bankers to sign papers and escrow to close. sigh.

After that, we drove down the street to the nearby beach and walked out the path... the tide was too high to go any further, but we spied a few 'sea huts' remaining from the summer season. I found the photo above in my files, taken of a sea hut last summer on another beach. They are popular creations here, made by schoolkids and tourists, locals and visitors, to while away hours on the beach in the sun.

Sitting here, in a tiny beach rental house where we are living temporarily, with nothing of our own to speak of around us, I am looking at all these photos (my house is my background image) and the message becomes clear:

Home is where you make it. 

We've lived in tiny apartments and duplexes, a camping trailer for a summer, a brand new little house, a bunch of big old (but not COOL old, if you get my drift) houses, a few nice medium-sized houses, one really big really nice log house, one tiny cute cottage, one farm... and now this beach house. Waiting for the really cool really cute nice new-ish house. Some of them hold dear memories, some hold the other kind. But for a time, they were all 'home'. 

This place we are in isn't 'home' for long, I know that. {God willing... and yes, truthfully, that IS one of my fears. That it may just BE home if just one more unreal thing that is out of our control unfolds in our crazy lives.} I'm trying to make it feel cozy and warm for now, keeping faith that soon we'll get the call and the key to our REAL home. And then life can begin again, we can get back to business and creating and living....instead of this bizarre foggy otherworld where there is nothing we can do but wait.

God has us here in this foggy place - physically, financially, spiritually, creatively - for a reason. He built this little sea hut and put us in it. And so I'm lookin' out at the waves, hearing the rain, and being thankful that we have it to shelter us. Our temporary home...

Pure & Simple?

I love 

Love 

LOVE

the pure simple beauty of white.

I've been searching for pure white candy canes
{the edible kind - peppermint flavor, no stripes}

for about three years. I finally found them. Happy girl! 

I bought every box that the store had. 

I've used some here in the little beach cottage, 

and set aside a few boxes to use when we get into our house.

Many of you commented on them in my previous posts, 

and I had planned to offer them for sale online.

Lil' problem with that...

I'd have to charge MORE than the cost of the candy canes as shipping. 

I'm thinking no one is going to pay $12 total for a box of 12 candy canes.

Soooo...I'm not sure WHAT to do.

{so much for the 'simple' part...}

I'll figure this out.... sooner or later....

any ideas gratefully accepted!

More Than An Ornamental Life

I spent yesterday with one of my favorite people. She was once a client, but is now a dear friend. We spent ten hours decorating her tree, her newly-remodeled home, and then enjoying a glass of Prosecco while admiring our handiwork. I wasn't able to take photos because it was already dark, but I thought I'd re-share the post I wrote about her two years ago:

'Tree of Life'

Fran is a lovely lady in her seventies, widowed, who lives in a modest home that holds the immense treasures that only a lifetime of living, loving, collecting, and fond memories can produce. Some things may have monetary value, but the true worth of Fran's 'estate' is that every single item comes with a story....

Fran's impressive Christmas ornament collection dates from the late 1800's. 

Some ornaments came from her grandmother, then her mother added to the collection, then Fran added her own - three generations of Holiday memories. Each precious fragile bauble is lovingly swathed in pristine white tissue and laid gently in original boxes. Packed into plastic tubs, they are safely stored all year - until the lucky day each year that I get to go to her house and help her unearth them.

As each box is opened and each little wad of tissue unwrapped, Fran's eyes dance and her smile grows wider. Occasionally I see a tear in her eye, as a memory catches her breath. I hear every story...'These we got on our honeymoon in Spain...' , 'This one was mom's', or 'My niece made this for me when she was 7' (she's 40 now). Precious memories of happy times, all brought out into the light each Holiday season. (I think it is a remarkably SMART practice to purchase ornaments as souvenirs when traveling - less to pack, inexpensive to buy, and you get to relive the memories each year!)

It takes hours of work, but it is truly a labor of love - for Fran, and for me. She started out as a client and is now a dear friend. We love our time together to chat, visit, catch up, and share Holiday memories. And after the hours of chatter and gasps and the occasional 'Oh Dear!' when one of the oldest ornaments is found to have deteriorated beyond repair (SO sad), all of the special ornaments end up on the tree and somehow manage to look more beautiful every year...

It's not a 'designer' tree, not a theme tree...it's a tree of life. Fran's life.

Her life as a child, as a daughter, as a wife, as an aunt. 

It's her story, beautifully told.

I love that four years ago, she called me to ask if I could help her bring the christmas Spirit back into her home, after her mother died. Which was two years after her husband died. And just two weeks ago, she lost her brother. Too much for one person, I think. This woman has known so much in life...growing up the daughter of an immigrant farmer, to create a career in broadcasting and hotel management, to her wonderful, loving marriage to a successful businessman who adored her, then figuring out life as a single woman on her own for the first time in her life.

Joy, sorrow, love, loss, pain and passion have touched her, and yet she is vibrant in spirit, young at heart, and a gracious, caring person. I am in awe of what she has experienced, what she has learned, and how she easily admits that she really still has so much to learn. She also has a lot to teach about life, and I am a willing student.

She told me tonight as we parted that I make her holidays worth celebrating.... How do you respond to that, except with tears and a hug?! I treasure this woman, and am so blessed to have her in my life. Love is the Christmas Spirit that she brings to me.

And all of her 'not so special' ornaments? They get heaped into her plethora of silver and crystal serving pieces, like the one above. Bits and pieces, made beautiful again by bringing them all together into a special container. Kind of like my friend's life...

I am so blessed that I am able to share it with her.

More of Deb's 'Fast, Cheap, & Easy' Holiday Decor

I am off decorating a favorite client's home today, so I've put together a few more 

simple decorating ideas in my 'Fast, Cheap & Easy' style for you...

A shallow niche in the wall of the entry hallway deserved a touch of festivity,

so I dolled up a simple white gift bag with a coffee filter flower, a candy cane, 

and one of those 'new but looks vintage' ornaments.

I hung it on an existing nail. Voila!

I cut out some ornament shapes from white cardstock, and hung a few over the sink.

 More cutouts hang in the windows in the living/dining room.

 The kitchen window is the perfect place for a creamy white mug of white candy canes,

and a pair of battery-op votives nestled into a bed of 'ice' in clear glasses. 

It's easy to combine a few elements to make simple candles more interesting:

Simple glass vases, glasses, & bowls hold a white candle, candy canes, and ROCK SALT!

Thank you so much for letting me share 

our little Beach Cottage 'temporary home' with you...

It's such a sweet place to decorate for the Holidays - even if it is just with paper!

I hope my 'Fast, Cheap & Easy' ideas & solutions

inspire you to make use of what you have on hand this season...

{Remember, almost everything here came from the dollar store

and what I could find on hand after our move last week!}

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Deb's 'Fast, Cheap, & Easy' Holiday Tree Design

I promised you an original Christmas tree... whaddya' think? ;0)

Following my 'Fast, Cheap & Easy' mantra of decorating, I rounded up some supplies on hand  - and lucked out when I found one lone wire tomato cage along with my terra cotta pots in the back of the trailer! I've used wire tomato cages as the forms for hundreds of display ideas, including Christmas trees, many times before {check out this past post on my retail design blog} so I knew it would be the perfect starting point for our 'temporary' decor this year.

Setup was easy: Beneath the wire form on the table, there is a large clear vase. I added a strand of white twinkle lights inside there, and it just makes the whole thing GLOW. I filled the spaces between the vase and the wire form with white tissue paper, then added a bit of textured white paper I found, plus a dozen or so paper coffee filter flowers. It's a frothy seafoam-y vintage-y tree!

Adding a few solid white candy canes and the same 'Merry Christmas' ornaments that were on the front door wreath, along with a sparkly clear resin snowflake topper, fills it out perfectly: not too much, just enough. And this year? Enough IS enough. ;0)

By the way, I spent three years searching for those plain white candy canes. I've seen them in magazines and books, but they've eluded me. This year, I hit the motherload! So, not only are they gracing MY Holiday Home, but they can grace YOURS, as well... I'm offering them for sale on our Retreat blog! I'll be posting them there on Wednesday of this week. {I am encountering shipping ISSUES, so the post is delayed. Might have to come up with a 'locals only' offer on them... sorry.....}

Coming in my next post: a few final Holiday decorative touches on a budget

Happy Decorating, everyone!

Deb's 'Fast, Cheap, & Easy' Holiday Decor

While we are 'between houses', we are staying at a tiny little beach cottage on the Island. It's a block from the beach, has a terrific view (check the right side of that photo!), and staying here makes us feel a lot like newlyweds on a honeymoon! It's a VERY nice resting spot for a week.

Or so we thought... On Saturday, we found out that our escrow has been DELAYED a week or more, due to some paperwork not getting processed by the lender on time. ugh. So, our stay here will be a bit longer that originally planned.

When I got that news, I looked at Bob and said 'I have to make this place feel more like home, then...'... and immediately started doing just that. We don't have a lot of stuff here with us, but what we DO have I made do with to decorate a bit: hung white flat sheets as window side drapes, and used the fitted sheets to cover some round tables. A box of my large clear vases was located, and I knew I'd be using them somehow...

As I was deep in the process of putting things in cabinets & closets, I unearthed a bag of craft supplies!!! I plonked them all down on our kitchen table and that really got my mind spinning...

I want a holiday mood that is beachy, white, wintery, simple, and peaceful. I've got a few tools and limited materials to work with... but I don't want to spend a lot of money. This is basically temporary decor - we MAY be moved into our new house by Christmas, and I'll be able to access my 'real' decor items at the back of that 30' storage unit by then. But in the meantime, I've got to do something!

We headed out to the dollar store and picked up a few more supplies to flesh out my ideas for a few decor elements. I grabbed paper coffee filters, white tissue, candy canes, and also found some great additional materials like this wreath form... originally it had an ugly red metallic bow on it. But it was a buck! I got it AND the door hook - also a buck, but also ugly metallic red - because they were a decent starting point for some simple holiday decor.

I covered the hook with silver paper that was the backing on a few packages of vintage-look plastic ornaments that say 'Merry Christmas' - you can see one just above the white flowers in the photo above. Then I added some coffee filter paper flowers to the wreath, and hung it on the Cottage's front door. There are a few of our galvanized buckets with herbs in them sitting on the front porch, so the silver in the wreath is a perfect touch. I'll get some photos in daylight tomorrow, I promise.

Come back and see more of my signature 'Fast, Cheap, & Easy!' decorating ideas in my next post... you won't BELIEVE the tree I came up with!!!