Day Seven -- Rain on a metal roof

Right now it's about 105 degrees in Arizona and we've only had one measly rainfall this summer. It's ugly hot. When my thoughts turn to rain, they also turn to my childhood summers spent at the cabin above. The cabin has a metal roof and as kids we always wondered if it would rain when we visited and prayed it would. Being raised in Phoenix, rain was a scarce and welcome commodity. There aren't many better sounds to me than the sound of rain on a metal roof, a cheap, small blessing and one of my favorite yet simplest childhood memories.

Day Six -- My kids

This is the most recent photo of my kids together taken a couple weeks ago when my daughter was home for a week of summer break. She's now back at school for summer quarter. It was a hot summer day and we'd gone out to eat and both were doodling at Macaroni Grill with crayons and paper.

They are grown and gone most of the year but are never far from my thoughts and I realized at that lunch that there is no one I would rather spend time with than them. They have been the greatest learning experience of my life and I found a quote the other day that perfectly sums that up: "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." Love is the best that life offers us and nothing beats the love and admiration I have for my children.

Day Five -- Beach Glass

I love beach glass. I love the colors and my favorite is aqua. I love the smoothness of pieces well-worn from tossing around in the ocean and I love that something that can be considered litter or trash has been made into a beautiful little treasure waiting for me to find it in the sand.

Wikipedia has a good article that will explain more about it than what I know. All I know is I think it's beautiful and it makes me happy to find it.

Day Four -- Polka Dots

I think I'm in a polka dot phase at the moment because I'm noticing them everywhere. Maybe I'm looking for cheerful images in a world full of 24 hour news channels with constant scenes of death, destruction and that continual flow of oil. There seems to be nothing I can do about any of it and it's so depressing.

I was watching an old Doris Day movie last night and admiring her outfit, a white suit with a light brown and white polka dot blouse underneath the jacket. 1965, a simpler time. I couldn't help but compare that simpler time with our current world climate and 2010 has been found wanting, at least in my mind.

Polka dots seem happy and comforting at the same time. Polka dots remind me of children, childhood, happy times, little girl dresses with lots of petticoats, parties and laughter. They are the comfort food of graphic design.

The world seems to be a better place with polka dots.. Most likely I watch too much news where everyday seems to bring a new horror but if there are polka dots in the world, then the world must still have plenty of good in it. Right? Things can't possibly be going to hell in a polka dot hand-basket. The two just don't mix.

I bought some polka dot bowls last month. I saw my husband eating a salad from one the other day and it just didn't look right so I made a new rule. The rule is we can only eat happy food from the polka dot bowls. Only ice cream with sprinkles or something equally as unhealthy yet cute and tasty. He rolled his eyes and the thought "empty nest" or "mid-life crisis" probably flitted through his brain. He will no doubt sneak some healthy food into those bowls when our other more conservative dishes are dirty but for now I feel like I have a tiny piece of goodness in my home despite that harsh world out there that I can't control.

Day Three -- Chocolate Cake

Day Three's topic, chocolate cake, was chosen simply because I'm hungry. And I love chocolate cake. And I have decided to eat more of it. So there.

Yep, that's my resolution. Life is too short not to have as much chocolate cake as possible. That said, I can't remember the last time I had a piece mainly because I don't like bakery chocolate cakes. Only homemade will do and I'm pretty lazy in the baking department unless there is some occasion or other.

Happily, I have a wonderful recipe that has stood the test of time. It came from the back of the cocoa can ages ago and it's a really good one that I will share with you. Yum-O as Rachel Ray would say. And I only say it to bug my daughter who is not a Rachel Ray fan.

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake from the Cocoa Can
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 round or one rectangular pan. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Remove from mixer and stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pan(s). Bake 30-35 minutes, (40 minutes for rectangular pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

One Bowl Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (from the cocoa can too!)
6 tbs softened butter
Cocoa - 1/3 cup light flavor
1/2 cup medium flavor
3/4 cup dark flavor
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

In small mixer bowl, cream butter, add cocoa and sugar alternately with milk. Beat to spreading consistency. Additional milk maybe be needed. Blend in vanilla. Makes 2 cups.

Enjoy! Yum-O!

Day Two -- Veterans

I was going to write that one of my favorite things is older men. Then I thought that sounded a little "iffy" and seems to imply a woman on the lookout for romance which I'm not. Then I thought maybe I should say "elderly men" but I don't like the term "elderly". The word by itself shouldn't imply someone who hasn't much time left or anything left to give but it does have that certain connotation. So I thought I'd simply say I like old men , and I do, but to further categorize "old men" I realized I am most touched by the American WWII Veterans in that category.

Tom Brokaw coined the term "the greatest generation" and the older I get, the more I agree with that description. These were and are men of integrity, those who fought for an ideal and didn't expect fame, recognition or wealth for it. Most grew up during the Great Depression and knew the meaning of sacrifice, knew what it meant to work hard for what they had and didn't expect a handout.

When Ronald Reagan spoke to an audience of world leaders and D-Day veterans in Normandy he said, "These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war."

They served proudly, they were patriotic, they were loyal and they continue to inspire despite their dwindling numbers. They protected our country, our values and our ideals and I don't know if we'll ever see their likes again. I admire them and salute them.

Day One -- Antique Samplers

A big love of mine is antique samplers. I don't know what first attracted me to them, probably many things including the history, the handmade crafting of them, the colors, the verses. I never tire of seeing a sampler whether antique or newly designed but the antique ones fulfill something within me and I find them fascinating. So I thought it was appropriate to start Day One of my project with an easy and obvious love of mine. I think they speak for themselves.

100 Things I like in 100 Days

I realized recently that I made a mistake in my life's plans. Mainly, I didn't make a life plan. I merrily hopped along from one thing to the next doing what I thought was right and what I thought I was good at.

Journalism school was great until I graduated and realized journalists made crummy wages. That would have been a good thing to think about before I spent four years of my life getting that degree. However, my thinking is no education is wasted even if gainful employment is not forthcoming.

So I immediately enrolled in nursing school. Nurses were making 2 1/2 times what journalists made back then. I was proud of my realism, happy to know I could get a job anywhere and support myself if need be. I heard many times from my mother "you must be self-sufficient,you should never depend on a man to take care of you. You could get divorced, he could die and then where would you be?" Okay, lesson learned Mom. Interestingly, my dad refused to marry my mom until she had graduated with a skill where she could support herself and his reasons were the same. He really was a smart man.

Nursing was a decision I never regretted. I spent most of my career in critical care so the stress was constant. Burnout eventually happens to most nurses and I was no exception. But I would never do it differently. Nursing led me to many lifelong friends and led me to my husband and allowed me a very flexible schedule when my children were young. That is a lot of bang for the nursing school buck. Luckily, when the burnout was full-blown, I was able to quit working and concentrate on my family and that's another decision I will never regret.

So enter my "design" years where I jumped in with both feet and not much knowledge and decided to design needlework samplers. How ridiculous was I to start a business based on the assumption that just because I love needlework that I could offer up something other people would want to do? Well it wasn't ridiculous and I've had a good ride with designing. It's been one of the happiest and most rewarding things I've ever done. That doesn't mean I'm good at it, just that I've enjoyed it and am thankful for many of the people I've met online and off because of it. So no regrets from me with that chapter of my life.

What I do regret is my optimistic outlook that once my kids were gone I would sail smoothly through the empty nest because I have so many things I love to do. I have never lacked for a creative outlet,I always have some project in one or more mediums going, I have piles of books that must be read, I have friends to see, places to go and people to meet.

To my horror, I realized empty nest was going to be a little harder than I thought. Had I known then what I know now, I would have had a job lined up to keep me busier. Depression leads to loss of interest in things you normally love. I had a lousy four or five months of that but good friends and family have been saving graces to my mental health. But I still want to figure out what to do between the end of being a stay-at-home mom and well...the rest of my life.

My friend, Nancy, suggested I do a collage like a friend of hers did. This involves the process of thinking about and writing down 100 things you love or want to do or whatever makes you happy. It can be anything from nice underwear to climbing Mt. Everest. After figuring out what makes you happy, the next step is getting poster board and cutting out pictures to make a collage.

Up to the point of cutting out pictures to glue onto poster board I was getting into this idea. But the words "poster board and collage" reminded me of a little incident where I was into making collages as a teen. I was busy being creative and cutting pictures out of my Seventeen magazines and pasting them onto poster board and lettering or cutting out words to go with the pictures. I thought my artwork was very inventive until my mother got a view of one of them and hid it in the back of my closet so my dad wouldn't see it. Her thoughts were I was "learning" a little too much from my boyfriend and my dad wouldn't have approved. She was right but to her credit she just hid the most offending creation and didn't throw it out. I can still visualize her eyes bugging out.

Pasting and gluing and collaging are not in my repertoire of a fun activity anymore so I'm going to do this project in the virtual medium right here on my blog which has been woefully neglected for quite some time. Does anyone want to join me? If so, leave a note or email me and I'll check on your progress and ideas as I go along.

I'm off to figure out what my first post will be. Maybe it will be the start of what the next half of my life will be.