I’m counting on 2016 to be a better place for me than 2015 was. Continue reading
Tag Archives: collabor88
The Clock Is Ticking As The Cold Winds Blow
One of the things it’s easy to forget as the frenzy dies down, is that the ARCADE is open all month. Those must have items you wanted, well they are still there. Didn’t want to pay 10X the price for a rare at some yardsale? Well, you might just get lucky with a full pulls at the mothership and after all there are still a few very good days left for Arcade shopping. Continue reading
I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields
I stopped by Orchid yesterday. What a lovely place to visit. There are deer, horses, and birds chirping away in a rustic winter wonderland that made me think of Alice talking to her cat, Dinah.
Do you hear the snow against the window-panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds! Just as if someone was kissing the window all over outside. I wonder if the snow LOVES the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
If you’re not feeling sleepy, though, this fun skater’s dress from ISON at Collabor88 is a winner in eight gorgeous colors. ISON also presented coordinating Nordic sweaters to wear over it, but I was drawn to this fur hoodie from Xen’s Hats for the Instruments. It also comes in several colors, but the white one is my favorite.
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If Only In My Dreams
Christmas Eve’ll find me
Where the love light gleams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
Lelutka has released a new mesh head called Simone. It’s a special edition head with additional expressions including this mournful one that perfectly captures some of the emotional turmoil I am feeling this Christmas season. With the passing of my aunt this summer, everyone from my parents’ generation is now gone. My sister had a tough struggle with cancer last year and came though in the end, but now has a new cancer that has gone from Stage One to Stage Four in just one month. I will confess I cry a lot lately, but I am still hopeful she will beat the odds. She is the strongest woman I know. Homesickness has manifested itself in the kitchen with traditional Christmas baking like lefse and rosettes and cooking up Cherry Soup with Dumplings, the foods that make me think of home and family.
No one loved Christmas more than my mom. Each year, my dad and my uncle would scour the woods for the perfect black spruce or balsam fir. It has to be 17 feet with no bare spots, so when I put the angel on the top it stopped just shy of the ceiling. Dad made a tree stand with wheels so we could turn it to decorate it evenly. I did the top from my bedroom balcony while they did the middle and bottom before we oh-so-carefully wheeled it across the living room so it was framed in the center by all the windows that faced onto the lake. It was a huge undertaking that was never done in a day, particularly since many of the ornaments were generational hand-me-downs and hand-made memory-laden pieces that prompted stories and remembrances of the past. There were no themed trees or single-colored trees because that store of ornaments was much more precious – a store of memories.And Now, I Can Relax
My typist told me she spent yesterday spoiling herself with a mini-spa day and so I told her that I thought I deserved one too. Luckily, she supports my need to be spoiled and pampered ridiculously. But I have to admit, soaking my feet in this amazing tub from Second Spaces is soothing enough that I’m not sure what I felt so tense about in the first place.
I’ve given away all of my gifts, I think, I can’t figure out if I missed anyone. If you’re still dithering, don’t forget that The Arcade is not only open – but all of the items you get there are TRANS. I’ve gone to Arcade many times for gifts, it’s a great spot for picking up items to give away to folks and there’s something for everyone there this round. Continue reading
Like It’s Christmas in the Room
Like it’s Christmas in the room
I’ll dance with you, I’ll laugh with you
‘Til it’s Christmas in the room
‘Til it’s Christmas in the room
We Meet Again Sewing Machine…
Yesterday I played. I logged in and Sasy, Whimsy and Mavi were making the rounds of the big shopping events and so instead of settling in for some serious work I went FA LA LA LA LA shopping. I couldn’t help it. SHOPPING WITH THE GIRLS IS MORE FUN. After we had emptied all the events of all the items worth having (which was all of them from what I could tell) I had to run off and they went on to further adventures. Continue reading
like stars filling the dark trees
“Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.”
― Mary Oliver
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There is no path
Within this world
there is, indeed, no path!
Even deep in this mountains
I have entered, heart set,
I seem to hear the deer cry!
Fujiwara no Toshinari
You Can’t Threaten Me With Heaven
I have a friend I work with who’s a devout Christian. He’s fond of saying “You can’t threaten me with heaven” with a smile that is that of a gleeful martyr thanks to experts like those at the Dentist Office in Huntington Beach. He doesn’t fear death, he feels in his heart that whatever comes next holds more majesty and perfection than anything dreamt of in your philosophy etc.
He doesn’t accept fear of death into his life, he doesn’t seek it but fear of it has no place. I find that to be a very interesting philosophy really. I don’t embrace it, but it’s interesting.
I have a different position on death, but mine is regarding grief. I’m full. Can’t accept any more grief. The skies could rain down fire and brimstone and I’m not sure I could shed a tear. I can’t feel more grief than I have felt this year, and I’m glad of it. Continue reading