Coffee Break

I love to get up in the morning.  One of the highlights of a new day for me is my coffee.  And there is nothing more fun that starting the day off with a special coffee mug.
I don't have one favorite mug.  I have a cabinet full of favorite mugs.  That is because each of my coffee mugs tells a story.  It is like sharing a moment with whomever gave the mug to me as I sip my coffee from it as the sun is just coming up.
I have never liked darkness or nighttime.  I could truly live in the land of the Midnight Sun.  I love sunshine and light and brightness.  Darkness does absolutely nothing for me.
My coffee sort of equates the start of a new day and the start of all things possible.  I love early morning more than any other time of day.

As I was visiting with Mom today, I was telling her how it doesn't matter how early I get up, I can't seem to get out of my tracks to go on to whatever is on my calendar for that day.  It isn't that I am a time waster....quite the opposite.  If I think I wasted a moment of time in a day, I feel very down.  Life is short.  My to-do list is long.  Therefore, wasting time isn't an option!
So, I came to realize that my love of that 2nd or 3rd (or 4th) cup of coffee in the morning isn't wasted time.  I have a plaque hanging in my computer/craft room that reads:  'Time you enjoyed wasting isn't time wasted.  ~T.S. Eliot'.
My coffee time is definitely time enjoyed (and most needed) therefore it isn't time wasted.
That being said......

My coffee time is precious to me.  The mugs I drink my coffee out of are totally mismatched and totally enjoyable.  I tend to reach for the mugs that I know are "mine."
I have a mug that looks like stoneware and it has a blue flower on it.  I bought these mugs in 1975 when I was in Richmond, VA visiting with my college friend, Ann.  We went to a big pottery warehouse and I knew that I was about to be married, so I bought a set of these mugs.  The rest of the set has broken or been lost throughout the years, but this one mug has hung on.  Whenever I pick up this mug to pour my coffee into, I think of the time that I bought it and I also relive my moments as a newlywed so happy and proud to have my own home to brew my own coffee in.  I had a stove top percolator and it truly made some delicious coffee.  I remember when my sister-in-law, Donna, visited Jim and I and thought we should have a drip type coffee maker and she went out and bought one for us.  It was orange and fancy and I remember thinking how cool it was, but in hindsight, nothing will take the place of a cup of coffee made stove top in a percolator and served in a stoneware mug.  Ah.  The good old days!

I have a mug that is precious to me because my friend, Marilyn, gave it to me.  I moved away from Raleigh in 1984 and that year for my birthday, she gave me this mug.  Marilyn and I were the best of friends and we shared the joy of motherhood with one another.  She had two girls and I had two boys.  Our kids were the same age and we enjoyed being together while they played.  We also drug them along with us for shopping sprees and lunches out.  Our husbands joined us when we decided to get together for dinner parties.  Our kids were very comfortable having sleepovers on certain nights when we adults felt like we needed some 'grown up time.'  Marilyn and I secretly hoped our kids might one day grow up, date, and maybe eventually marry.  Of course, time and distance happened and our kids are adults now with lives of their own.  I will, however, never forget my friend and the importance she had in my life at a very key time in my life.
The mug she gave me had a poem by Susan Polis Schultz on it and it reads:

'You are always my friend

when I am happy or sad

when I am alone or with people

if I talk to you today

or in a year

You are always my friend

and through the years

we will change, but it 

doesn't matter what we do

Throughout our lifetime

you are always my friend.'

I don't have much contact with Marilyn any more, but at a time in my life when I needed and wanted a certain type of friend, she was it.
I am sure if I met up with Marilyn tomorrow we could pick up right where we left off.
Everyone needs a Marilyn in their life.

I have another friend in my life that has blessed me in many ways.  Her name is Kathy and we still keep in touch although the miles separate us.  I learned to play bridge with Kathy and although bridge has become a mainstay in my life, Kathy doesn't play much any more.  She is a full time teacher, mother, wife and new grandmother.  She stays busy and doesn't love bridge enough to make time for it in her life right now.  She gave me a mug out of her cabinet one time when I was in NC visiting with her.  It says:  'A bad day at the Bridge Table is still better than Cleaning House!'
I love the mug and she knew I would.  She took it out of her cabinet and gave it to me as she knew it was apropos in my life at the moment, but not in hers.  I do think of Kathy whenever I use it.

I have an old mug that is white and has the comedy/drama masks on it.  It is a mug I bought for myself because I am a theater lover.  I have loved going to the theater since I was 13, but I also have loved performing since high school when my best friend, Terri, talked me into auditioning for "No No Nanette" at Shelby High School.  Once bitten, the theater bug stays in your blood.
I used to display this mug on a shelf of special mugs that I had in my house in Shelby, but now it is a usable mug in my cabinet.  It is so faded, the image is almost indiscernible.  Drinking out of this mug sometimes puts me on the 4th row in The Shubert Theater in NYC or on stage with PAGES Theater Group here in Florida.

Speaking of theater, one of the people I met here in Florida while doing theater was Pat.  Pat is one of those ladies who enters your life and makes her mark.  Again, she is someone I seldom see or hear from, but I know she is just a stone's throw away.  Pat is cheerful, smart and passionate.  I have some very fond memories of Pat.  She enjoyed gospel music, as do I.  We went to see the Gaither Family in a gospel concert, and we also went to see Earth, Wind and Fire together.  We saw many shows and we enjoyed celebrating Halloween at Pat's annual Halloween party.  We had cast parties at my house and we ate at Alley Cats after many a rehearsal for a show she was directing and I was in.
Pat had a shirt that said:  'All I really want to do is direct'.
And Pat was an amazing director.  I can think of times when I was probably a whiny brat, but Pat was always cheerful, yet firm, and her creativity knows no boundaries.  Pat could direct a cat to share its food with a dog.  She just has that knack.
Speaking of, Pat knew I loved cats and she gave me a mug that says:  Where my money goes~cat litter, cat food, cat toys, other.
Pat, as a dear friend, knew that my love of theater didn't surpass my love of cats.  Yes, I am truly the Crazy Cat Lady.

Knowing this, my sister-in-law, Linda, just recently visited and brought me a jumbo mug (knowing my love of coffee) and it says 'Crazy Cat Lady' on it!  I cracked up, as I have often been called this, but I didn't actually have anything that said this.  Linda knows me well.  In more ways than can be explained in this blog. Linda and I have always been the Fitzpatricks by marriage gals.  Yes, we have much to share and much to talk about.  But that could probably be a blog all its own!

And speaking of cats, my friend, Pat (another Pat), gave me a mug last Christmas with a sleeping orange tabby cat (my fave!) and a little mouse on it.  It says:  'Cat is napping, mice will play'.  I love this mug because is it tall and slender and shaped a bit different from some of my other mugs.  I can't decide if I love the friend who gave it to me or the rendition of my beloved cats on it better!
Needless to say, Pat knows me well.

I have a Precious Moments mug that says 'Mary, Blessed one, Pure in Heart'.  I love it.  It is all pink and white.  I actually think I bought this one for myself.  What can I say????
It is so ME.

I also have a mug that says 'Golf Widow'.  It has a long stemmed red rose on it.  This mug makes me chuckle!  Back in the days of my Shelby living, my husband was an avid golfer (as he was before then and since then!).  He had an amazing group of guys that he played with.  Some of these guys had wives who were good friends of mine.  Of them, Sally, Margaret and Allyson were 3 that I did a lot of socializing with.  We called ourselves Golf Widows.  Although it sounded like a sad state, the reality was that we used our golf widow time to have friend time!  We never missed the guys so much that we couldn't find time to enjoy ourselves.
Anyway, the mug inspired us to make tee shirts for ourselves.  We had a craft day one day where we painted tee shirts with a long stem rose and the words 'Golf Widow' on them.  They were so cute!
Little did anyone know that being that kind of  'widow' really wasn't all that bad!  


Another of my favorite mugs says:  'In the cookies of life, FRIENDS are the chocolate chips'.
What a thought.
My friend, Susan, gave me this mug for my birthday one year.
Susan is an amazing teacher, and I humbly volunteered in her classroom for a couple of years.  I really didn't do much, but I was always touched by the way Susan handled herself with her students.  She has a gift, and I have learned through years of experience that we all have our 'gifts' or our love languages.  Susan's gift is her amazing way with young people.  She knows how to inspire them, instill manners and give them a zest for life.  I hope to volunteer in her classroom again one day when the timing is right for me.  I don't know what I really add to the mix, but I do know it gives me an insight into a friend I already love and admire.
It is a good idea to get to know your friends in ways that are not the norm....to see them at work, with their families, or in an environment that is not your usual comfort zone.
Hats off to Susan, and any other amazing teacher.
And I am glad to be one of the chocolate chips in your life!    

To add some humor, I have a mug that says "Save Oxygen.  Shut Up."  Guess where this mug came from?  MY OWN MOTHER!  One year on my birthday she gave this mug to me.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!  First of all, I have never said Shut Up.  I didn't use it with my kids or my students.....because my mother taught me that this wasn't a nice thing to say!

It became a real joke that she gave this mug to me.  Several years later when I asked her about it, she told me she thought it was funny and she knew I collected mugs, so she bought it!  I don't think there was any intentional message in the sentiment.  At least, I hope not!

And finally, a mug that I cherish is a 40th birthday mug....now faded.  My kids gave it to me and at the time they thought it was so funny.....as did I!  I guess I am glad to be alive and kicking 17 years later.
This mug is a reminder to me of many things.  It is that we can mark certain milestone birthdays in our lives, but those birthdays are only stepping stones to future birthdays.
Our kids can think something is so funny at the time, and in hindsight, I am thinking that my oldest child is less than a decade away from receiving a 40th birthday mug himself.  
     
Life is funny.  It is interesting.  It is a wild ride!
We have friends come and go.  We have interests and hobbies take place at certain times of our lives.  We live in one home and move to another.  We have passions.  We have interests.  We are who we are at that moment in time.
All all these things add, multiply and divide themselves to make us who we really are and who we will be remembered as.

And memories are made of this.

Jumbled Thoughts

Recently I was thinking of so many things from Mom's house that are boxed up ready to be moved, already in my house or in her apartment, or just things from Shelby in general.  I was thinking of a mishmash of things that are artistic, creative, handmade, clever and fun.  The things that popped in my head came in a whirlwind and are not necessarily in any order or have much connection with one another.  They are truly just jumbled thoughts I have that created many memories I don't want to ever forget.

When I thought of the word jumbled, I thought about the word search puzzles and jumbles that Mom likes to do.  I have always been a puzzle person....I love crosswords, jumbles, cryptograms, jigsaw puzzles and electronic puzzle games.  I always tell myself after sitting for longer than I intended working on these puzzles that I am priming my mind in order to ward off forgetfulness and absentmindedness as I age.  I always thought that working on puzzles helped with your memory.  I used that excuse to get Mom hooked on Word search Puzzles.  She always said she couldn't do crosswords, so I started creating word search puzzles on my computer and mailing them to her to work on.  I would theme the puzzles and make them about things that were relative to Mom and her life, the season, or things she liked.  She really loved them and after mailing them to her several times, I gave in and bought a huge book of word search puzzles....there are 365, I think.  The book is big and the puzzles are easy to see.  They too are themed, but they seem much harder than the ones I used to make for her.  She is slowly but surely working through this book.  She moved it to Florida with her and it sits on the little table by her recliner.  I think when she has nothing to do, she picks the book up and works a couple of puzzles.  I think it is good for her mind and it keeps her from getting bored.  Mom also works the jumbles in the newspaper sometimes.  She always wanted to guess the answer to the puzzle rather than actually work on unscrambling the words!  Whatever works.  Puzzles are fun.

Another fun and puzzling thing we have is a Shoot the Moon game.  Martha and I bought it for Daddy many moons ago (no pun intended) for Father's Day.  We got it for his desk along with another wooden puzzle game.  I don't know what happened to the other game.  I think it broke.  It was one of those pendulum ball games where the balls swung back and forth and created a certain motion.  Daddy was stubborn and always wanted to figure out how to beat the games.  He was persistent and tried over and over to figure out the best way to indeed Shoot the Moon.  There was always ways to get farther along than your opponent.  If you pressed down real hard with the back of your hand, the game would tilt just enough to make the ball go just a little further!   Daddy couldn't stand it if he thought someone was doing this.  He called it cheating, and I guess he was right!  We still had a lot of fun with aggravating him with our 'cheating!'  When my kids came along, they also loved playing this game and it was always a hit when we would go to Shelby to visit.  I have it on my hearth right now.  When Mom moved down here, I made sure this classic game made it to my house.

 Up until this last time when I went to Mom's house to get everything cleaned up and ready for the movers, I stood in her foyer and had thoughts of what all used to be there.  There were two things in her foyer that I was remembering and they made me miss Martha very much.  They were very artistic and that reminded me of Martha.  Not only did Martha love art and art objects, these things in particular were just very Martha.  One is a statue entitled "Sisters."  Mom bought two of these from an artist she knew at an art show.  They are the same piece of artwork but made out of different materials.  The one she gave me is some sort of stone and slate.  I have it in my living room and I love it.  It is a statue of two young girls sitting back to back on a rock.  Mom bought them, of course, because they reminded her of Martha and me.  Mom's was a darker bronze-like material and it sat in her foyer.  She moved it down here and now has it in her dining room.  I know whenever she looks at it, it is a reminder of her two girls.  The other thing from Mom's foyer that reminds me of Martha was a big wooden statue of St. Francis of Assisi.  Martha and Bob gave it to Mom for Christmas the first year they were married.....the first Christmas we had without Daddy.  Mom had always admired it at their house, and Martha and Bob knew how much Mom loved it so they surprised her with it.  She was indeed thrilled and it sat proudly in her foyer and always reminded me of Martha when I saw it.  When Mom moved to Florida, she gave it back to Bob.  Although it had been a gift to her, she thought Bob might like to have it back.  It is a beautiful piece of artwork.

 Another thing that Mom always had at her house was my old Barbie dolls and all their accessories and clothes.  When Mom moved to Florida and I was in Shelby packing things for the movers, Madeline called me one day and said, "don't forget my Barbies!"  She always loved playing with them when we would go to visit.  I made sure they moved down to Florida and they are in my garage packed in a box somewhere.  When Madeline moves into her own place, she will need a room just for all her old dolls and stuffed animals along with some of my old stuff!  

My old Barbies were so well dressed.  Not only did they have genuine store bought Barbie clothes, they had handmade clothes as well.  Mom's friend, Betsy Humphries, made them for me and Martha.  She was a pretty good seamstress and she would make ball gowns, dresses, pants, bathrobes and all sorts of clothes for our Barbies to wear.  Martha and I were thrilled to have all these 'extra' clothes for our dolls.  Betsy was one of those dear people who loved life and was always happy to make and do things for those she cared about.  She was an amazing artist, and I am pleased to know that I have two of her pen and ink drawings hanging in my dining room.  They are drawings of two of the houses that Jim and I owned in North Carolina.  They serve as great memories.  But, back to the Barbie clothes....I am amazed at how small the clothes are and it makes me realize how difficult it must have been to sew them.  Betsy and Mom were good friends for about 72 years!  They became friends when they were 16.  Imagine.  I am saddened that Betsy passed away last week, but I am truly grateful that I had her in my life. I am so happy that I have the beautiful, artistic drawings in my home and that Madeline will hold a small part of Betsy in the clever handmade Barbie doll clothes.

Speaking of clothes, I remember that Daddy went away on a business trip one time when I was little (maybe around 4 or 5).  He liked to bring us back a surprise, and this particular time he brought back a unique gift for Martha, Mom and me.  They were red negligees with matching robes.  Each was a bit different.  I remember mine had tiny white pearls around the neckline.  They were beautiful.  I don't know what made Daddy decide to buy that particular thing for us, but we loved them!  I think he was missing us and saw them and thought we would all look great in them!  I suppose we did look good in them because we had a very clever idea.  We wore our matching red negligees and went to a photographer and had our portrait done in them.  It was a beautiful portrait and we gave it to Daddy for Christmas or some occasion.  It hung proudly over his bed when we lived on Ridgeview Drive.  I can still see it....frame and all.  That is the last I remember of that portrait.  I have bugged Mom on and off for 31 years about this portrait.  It is no where to be found!  I am saddened by this, but the optimist in me keeps hoping that it will turn up somewhere someday.  Maybe it is behind another picture in a frame.  But as I write this, the moving van is en route to Florida, so Mom's house in Shelby is officially empty.  And I personally went through every inch and every item in her house, so I know I didn't see it.  That is, of course, unless it is 'hidden' somewhere which is my wish and my prayer.
I don't have the portrait of the 3 of us in the negligees, but I do, however, have the actual negligees!  Mom cleverly preserved them by sealing them inside a gallon jar!  I don't know if all 3 are in there or not.  I am assuming it is just mine and Martha's.  I did move the jar to Florida, but I have yet to unseal it.  When I unpacked it my family wondered what in the world was the red 'stuff' inside a gallon pickle jar!  If only they comprehended the memory that will be unleashed when I finally decide to open it.

Another unlikely clothing item that works its way into my jumbled thoughts is another nightgown.  This one is truly remarkable to me.  And what I love about it is that I really didn't know about it until I was packing up Mom's house to move.  It actually moved me to tears.  It is a beautiful satin handmade nightgown that Mom wore on her wedding night with my Dad!  It is remarkable workmanship.....a true work of art.  It is floor length and zips up the back.  It is adorned with tiny pearls and lace and is very simple and elegant.  I can picture my mom as a young bride in love wearing this gown.  When we were packing Mom told me about it and then told me to just throw it out.  It had a huge brown stain on it from years of hanging in the closet.  I told her she was nuts!  No way was I going to throw that thing out!  So, I moved it back to Florida and took it to my dry cleaner.  He told me there was a risk in cleaning it because of the age of the fabric, but I had to take that chance.  I must say, it turned out beautifully!  I gave it to Madeline and it hangs in her closet.  She doesn't think she will be able to wear it because my Mom must have been awfully tiny!  It looks like it would fit a little girl!  Anyway, it will be preserved somehow, as I want to save it and continue to pass it down the line.  I absolutely love it and I don't think we have any other clothing items that are that old in our family.  Talk about memories!

Another handmade item that I brought back from Mom's is a crocheted tablecloth.  She had offered it to me before, but I just got around to taking it when we moved her.  I think I became even more sentimental then (if that is possible) than I have been all my life!  I brought it right home and put it on my dining room table.  It is perfect and I haven't used another tablecloth since except at Christmas time.  I think Mom has decided this tablecloth is at least 75 years old.  Jessie's husband, Tony Hammock, gave it to Mom.  Mom said that when he bought it and gave it to her, it wasn't quite big enough to fit on Mom's dining room table so he took it back to the lady who crocheted it and had her add more to it.  If you look closely you can tell where it was added on, but frankly I would have never known if Mom hadn't told me.  As a craftsman myself,  I appreciate and respect this beautiful piece of handiwork more than I can express.  I trust that as many memories as those Mom had will be created around this tablecloth as we sit around my dining room table for many special occasions to come!  

 (Two great memories already.......Easter and Thanksgiving!)

My jumbled thoughts are ending on more whimsical notes.  

I offered my friend, Sally, something from Mom's house.  I wanted her to have a 'piece' of Mom and the house as a reminder.  She came over this last time when Jim and I were there cleaning and doing the final packing of the house.  I told her to pick something and she told me she wasn't good at that.  So I offered to pick something for her that I thought she would like and I would just give it to her later on.  She liked that idea much better!  We continued to talk, visit and explore the house.  I did offer her boxes and boxes and boxes of taper candles.  I don't know what Mom was doing with such a huge supply of unused candles, but she was certainly prepared!  Sally was happy to have these as she does entertain a lot and will use the candles.  But of course, this wasn't the memento that I wanted Sally to have.  After some time passes, she decided to leave and Jim and I walked out the back door with her.  She looked down and saw this dusty, cobweb-ridden black dog statue and she said "that's what I want!"  I was surprised because it really wasn't something "fine" that I really wanted her to have.  But Sally is a lot like me....she likes what she likes and she knows what she likes and this dog was really very 'Sally.'  I gladly gave it to her.
There is a story about this dog statue.  Homer loved dogs.  He wanted one so badly.  Anyone who knows my Mom knows that having a dog was out of the question.  So, Homer finally quit asking.  I guess my Mom felt badly because she knew how much Homer loved dogs so she bought this statue and put it by the back door.  She told Homer that at least he would have a dog to greet him each time he came in the door!  That compromise worked just fine.  There were plenty of neighborhood dogs who came to visit Homer as he worked in the yard every day.  He truly had the best of both worlds.
To take this cleverness a step farther, I received an email from Sally one day.  It was a picture of the dog statue all cleaned up and sitting on her porch.  The dog is holding a basket in his mouth and Sally had put some fresh red flowers in the basket!  It is precious and the dog appears to be very happy in his new home.  Sally's email read:  'I love my Porter Pup!'  That just made my day.

Along the lines of clever and creative names like Porter Pup are some names our family has used for various things.  My Uncle Paul had a house a Lake Norman.  This house was named The Porter Hole and was printed on a porthole somehow.  It has been years since I have been there, so I am just stating this strictly from old memories.  I remember thinking it was a cute name.  Likewise, his boat was named The Riverbender.  This is clever because my Uncle's golf course was named Riverbend Acres.  I have always loved to use names like this so creatively.  
This lake house has such special memory for me for several reasons.  I know that I enjoyed my years going there with my cousins for picnics and special occasions.  I learned how to water ski on Lake Norman.  Uncle Paul was pretty insistent that we all learn how to ski.  He handled me the best way he knew how.....just threw me in the lake, gave me some skis and sent Bill in to help me.  I got up and learned to ski and loved it for several years....until I got older and became a big chicken!  But those years of hanging out at Lake Norman were very special for me.  They are the childhood memories that can never be taken from you.  
One summer when I was in Jr. High School, Aunt Margaret wanted to go to the lake and spend a little time.  I don't know why, but I went with her.  We had several days there alone together and it was a wonderful bonding time.  I think that after a few days, some other people came too, but I felt very special going with her and helping her get ready for the rest of the gang!  
And my truly special memory was spending my Honeymoon at Lake Norman.  Jim and I were young and he had just graduated college.  After our honeymoon he was heading back to immediately start his career and I had one more year of college to complete.  Jim and I had decided to go to Florida to Disney World for our honeymoon and had just planned to get in the car and drive and not make prior arrangements.  As I said, we were young and willing to throw caution to the wind.  At our rehearsal dinner, Uncle Paul came up and put his arms around the two of us, slipped the key to the house at Lake Norman in Jim's pocket and told us to save our money and go use the lake house for a honeymoon.  We were thrilled and delighted and we took him up on his offer.  He told us whatever was there was for our use.  So, we left our wedding reception and headed to Lake Norman.  We arrived and realized how quiet and peaceful it was and what a great retreat to enjoy after the busy-ness of a week of college graduation and a wedding!  There were steaks, hamburgers, champagne and all sorts of 'goodies' for us.  We were in our glory!  We got up each morning and went to this little country diner for breakfast, came back and fished off the dock, then we laid in the sun, swam, floated and enjoyed the sunshine.  We fired up the grill and cooked steaks as we watched the sunset and we listened to the sounds of nature.  It was a wonderful honeymoon and I am so thankful to my Uncle Paul for giving this to us.

And finally I have some jumbled thoughts of our sun room on Ridgeview Drive.  When we first bought the house, we had a covered back porch.  Mom and Dad decided to enclose this porch into a sun room and then build a brick patio off of the sun room.  It was a beautiful addition and it gave us a place to sit and enjoy our large wooded backyard with a creek running through it.  The sun room was lovely and my mom had me paint a cement turtle and frog to use out there for decoration.  They have endured the test of time and Porter has them now.  I am not sure why he wanted them, but he has them and I am glad they are in good hands.  I was in high school when I painted these and they are pretty cute critters, if I must say so myself.
When Mom and Daddy were designing the sun room, they decided at the last minute that they may need to add a little half bathroom so it wouldn't be so far for guests to go to get to a bathroom.  The builder was able to add that, but mentioned that it would have to be VERY small.  And small it was!  It was just attached to one end of the sun room and they had to buy an extra small sink to make it fit.  You could actually sit on the toilet and wash your hands!  I remember taking a large can and cutting scalloped edges on it and painting it yellow to use as a trash can.  That is all that would fit!  I don't know whose clever idea that was, but it was adorable.  The little bathroom really was kind of cute, but definitely not a place where you would want to spend a lot of time.  This room was aptly named The Porter John!  The name was engraved on a brass plaque and hanging outside the 'room.'
This sunroom is special in my memory because one of the last times I actually used it was for my wedding reception.  We got married at Central United Methodist Church on a sunny Saturday and then came back to my parents' house for the reception.  We were all thankful that the weather cooperated because people filtered out of the sunroom onto the brick patio.  We had the food on the dining room table and the wedding cake was out on the sunroom table.  That is where we cut the cake and I got to enjoy having cake pushed in my mouth by my new husband!  Ahh...the memories!

So many bits and pieces of our lives can come rushing back to us in the form of jumbled thoughts.  And although these jumbled thoughts may seem to have no connection, they actually do.  They all are bits and pieces of what makes us who we are.  Some of these things are artistic, creative, clever, handmade and fun and are certainly things that are engraved in our heads and our hearts.  And of course, memories are made of this!