Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy NEW YEAR!




My Wishes in 2010:


"God gives You…

12 Month of Happiness,

52 Weeks of Fun,

365 Days Success,

8760 Hours Good Health,

52600 Minutes Good Luck,

3153600 Seconds of Joy…

and whatever else your heart desires!"

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

On The Runway of Life




"You're either IN or you're OUT!"
-Heidi Klum, Project Runway

Monday, December 28, 2009

Through YOU




"There are two ways of spreading light;
to be the candle
or
the mirror that reflects it."
-Edith Wharton





Sunday, December 27, 2009

No Worries

"Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
But don't worry;
God never blinks." -Regina Brett

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Oh So Cuddly

Happiness is


A warm PUPPY!


Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone!


"It is good to be children sometimes,

and never better than at Christmas time."

-Charles Dickens


May we all be children on this Christmas morning, with hearts filled with the w0nder and the

joy of this magical season.
Happy Holidays one and All!

"our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at christmas-time."



Thursday, December 24, 2009

Song In My Heart







"Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever. "

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Snowy Christmas Greeting From Florence

Received this holiday card from Aria and Daniele. It's been snowing alot in Florence. Here they are with their snowman. Cold hands, warm hearts!

Merry Christmas Aria and Daniele!
We will be missing you in Long Beach this year.

Firenze imbiancata 18/19 Dicembre 2009

Saw this on my friend Jerry's blog and it was so nice to see what Aria is experiencing. They built a snowman last week. Looks like powdered sugar got sifted over Florence. Lovely.

Winter Thoughts of Long Ago

image via flickr

“When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow, we hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago, and etched on vacant places are half-forgotten faces of friends we used to cherish, and loves we used to know.”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox quotes (American poet and writer 1850-1919)








Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Thinking of you ARIA



joy'ful-ness

"And if

you keep it for a day,

why not always?

But you can never keep it alone." - Henry Van Dyke


This quote was on a Christmas card that Aria sent me one year. Inside she wrote:"do you remember this quote from Ally McBeal? I saw this card and I thought about you, because we watched that show together and because the same holds true for the joyfulness in my life. I could never keep it without you. I love you, Merry Christmas, Aria"


Aria: I will miss being with you this Christmas but you will be in our hearts all throughout this joyful season. Love you!




















Monday, December 21, 2009

Like Christmas Fudge


"Our family is a little like Christmas fudge,
sweet with a few nuts."
At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year. - Thomas Tusser "The Farmer's Daily Diet"

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Jingu Bells Annual Family Christmas Party















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Our Little World





"We go together into town and buy wine and yellow candles.


O this is celebration enough for twenty worlds!"


-Kenneth Patchen

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Silent Night, Holy Night


Image by: Harry Callahan
Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; Teach us to be patient and always to be kind. - Helen Steiner Rice

Friday, December 18, 2009

The Heart Is My Home



"The earth is my altar,
the sky is my dome,
the mind is my garden,
the heart is my home
-yea-
I'm always at Om."
-Eden Ahbez

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Home for the Holidays




"A home should feel like a warm coat on a winters evening -

it protects you"- Henk Teunissen

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Peace on Earth



St. Chapelle, Paris

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on Earth,
Peace,
Good will toward men."
-Luke 2:14


St. Chapelle Paris


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Dancing to Our Inner Music


"Watch the dust grains moving

in the light near the window.

Their dance is our dance.

We rarely hear the inward music,

but we're all dancing to it nevertheless,

directed by the one who teaches us,

the pure joy of the sun,

our music master."


-Rumi

translated by Coleman Barks

Monday, December 14, 2009

Cold Outside Warm Inside


The chilly winds of winter

are no match

for a warm heart.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

I Believe, I Believe


image Jan Van Hollevan

Wishing you heartfelt joys,
happy memories
and heavenly blessings
for a delightful Christmas
and New Year.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

"I'm Singing in the rain", Gene Kelly

Rainy Saturday but I love it. I'm home baking and cooking. Singing in the rain here in California. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Something For Your Tootsies

*You choose













*My choice: Sock Monkeys





Thursday, December 10, 2009

I'm As Happy As A Clam

Christmas lights Florence Italy...

I was thinking the other day how I love all the twinkling lights of Christmas...on the tree, on the homes in the neighborhood, everywhere. They make me so happy....then I thought "happy as a clam". When I asked where does that saying come from? My friend Jen sent me the following answer. I'm sharing this little interesting story with you.



"Happy as a clam"

Meaning: Very happy and content.

Why would clams be happy? It has been suggested that open clams give the appearance of smiling. The derivation is more likely to come from the fuller version of the phrase, now rarely heard - 'as happy as a clam at high water'. Hide tide is when clams are free from the attentions of predators; surely the happiest of times in the bivalve mollusc world. The phrase originated in the north-eastern states of the USA in the early 19th century. The earliest citation that I can find is from a frontier memoir The Harpe's Head - A Legend of Kentucky, 1833:
"It never occurred to him to be discontented... He was as happy as a clam."

The first record that I can find of the 'high water' version is from the Pennsylvania newspaper The Adams Sentinel, August 1844:
"Crispin was soon hammering and whistling away as happy as a clam at high water."
The expression was well-enough known in the USA by the late 1840s for it to have been included in John Russell Bartlett's Dictionary Of Americanisms - A Glossary Words Aid Phrases Usually Regarded As Peculiar To The United States, 1848:
"As happy as a clam at high water," is a very common expression in those parts of the coast of New England where clams are found.
Also in 1848, the Southern Literary Messenger - Richmond, Virginia expressed the opinion that the phrase "is familiar to everyone".

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Sum of the Parts




Happiness is when

what you think,

what you say,

and

what you do

are in harmony.
-Mahatma Gandhi




Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Nice Surprise Message


"The manner of giving
is worth more
than the Gift."

-Pierre Cornielle

Monday, December 7, 2009

Entering The Mind of an Artist


"Instead of being unable to see the forest for the trees" we suddenly see both the forest and the trees."

-Julia Cameron

Sunday, December 6, 2009

I Just Called To Say I LOVE YOU



No New Year's Day to celebrate
No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away
No first of spring
No song to sing
In fact here's just another ordinary day
No April rain
No flowers bloom
No wedding Saturday within the month of June
But what it is,
is something true
Made up of these three words that I must say to you
I just called to say

"I love you"

-Stevie Wonder

Saturday, December 5, 2009

A Clearer Vision



“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
-Henry Miller

Friday, December 4, 2009

Sense and Sensibility


"Tasting is a way of life. We taste everything that comes into contact with our senses, be it a work of art, the present moment, the reality of existence; objects, people, the arts, love, life." -Poupon

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Feelings In My Heart


“Travel is more than the seeing of sights;
it is a change that goes on,
deep and permanent,
in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Jingu Bells Family Christmas Celebration

The Annual Family C







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hristmas Party at Sonya and Tom's home. We all had a great time!

Enlightenment


"To learn to read
is to light a fire;
every syllable
that is spelled out
is a spark."
-Victor Hugo

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Necessity of Friendship


“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art....
It has no survival value; rather it is
one of those things that give value to survival.”
―C.S. Lewis
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