Soul Carving

             Each Father's day, birthday or anniversary is a challenge to find or create something meaningful for my sweetheart that will communicate my love for him. Sometimes my plans are bigger than my budget. But this Father's day, inspiration and finances struck a balance. And I am very pleased with the results.        At first I was worried about the timing. It always seems I get the best ideas just a bit too late. I've ended up giving "half-baked" gifts before and it always feels like the recipient is getting short-changed. I didn't want that to be the case this time. But thanks to the convenience of modern technology, I was able to whip this gift up within 24 hours!        The plan was to create a photo collage of the kids for Richard to display on his desk at work. I searched through some digital photos but couldn't find the right kind of portrait for each child that was recent enough. So an idea star...

       I saw the first flyer for it about a month and a half ago and ever since, I have been looking forward to the local Library Book Sale! I was literally dancing with excitement the night before. I told Richard I'd be going to the sale in the morning and I started singing this little ditty .        By some miracle, I was able to get all the kiddos into the car and we arrived half an hour before the library even opened. We played at the river bank while we waited. Five minutes before opening, there was a line of about a dozen people waiting to get into the library. I looked around at the cheerful faces and thought to myself, "This is probably the closest I will ever get to Black Friday."       Thrifting is an art, my friends. It can be a hit-and-miss business, but with experience you learn a few things that increase your chances of success. Keeping your ear to the ground, as they say, gives you a bit of an advantage. Noti...

“In the sheltered simplicity of the first days after a baby is born, one sees again the magical closed circle, the miraculous sense of two people existing only for each other.” -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh