A New Day...

Today is a new day.  The new hair is making me feel spunky.  Getting back to my many joys in life.  I belong to a quilting guild.  Our guild makes Service Flags, also known as Blue Star Flags.  These flags are displayed by families who have members serving in the armed forces during times of war or hostilities like the ones the United States finds themselves in currently.

My son's friend will be deployed tomorrow.  My mom who is a guild member with me graciously took her time to make this young man's Service Flag to give to his mother.  I had planned on making it but as many know with a full time job sometimes time runs out in a day.  That's what's great about the guild members they will always pull together to make sure we thank those who serve and protect our country.  The next time you pass a home and see a Blue Star Flag hanging in a window know that the family inside has a loved one in harms way protecting our freedoms and country.  Say a prayer for their safety.
My last thought for the day.  Who will make my son's flag when it's time?  Me?  My mom?  Maybe another guild member?  Either way I will proudly hang my flag in my window and pray for my son and all other military members.

Getting out of a funk...

I've been in a funk for a few days.  So what's a girl to do?  Get a new look!  While it doesn't solve everything is certainly made me feel better.  It'll be a good new look for awhile.  So, I've never done this before, just went into the salon and told my stylist that I wanted a new cut and color (I've never had may hair professionally colored before).  She's a great girl and made it fun even though it was scary to make the change.
Try it some time if given the chance.

Before....                                                                                                  After....

One of those days

It's been one of those days for about five days in a row.  Just feeling overwhelmed.  Life is changing so fast.  My heart wants to slow it down and my mind knows I can't.  Good things are on the horizon but getting there will be bumpy.
Running is the best medicine.  It's the one place where your mind can escape and your body run the battle raging inside.  I started running a few years ago to get back into shape after an injury.  I had been a runner in high school and forgotten how good it can make me feel.  Now I use it as on of my many releases.  Today it's the combination of work deadlines and home responsibilities.  Women have been struggling with this battle for many years now.  I truly love the career I have.  I love the people I work for and find the work very rewarding and satisfying.  On the flip side is my home responsibilities.  My children are older and don't need me as much but the demands are still there.  How to balance it all and still feel like a whole woman is a struggle I have often.  Free time is non existent.  Every minute of my day is accounted for by someone else with the exception of the few minutes I've been finding lately to blog.  Tomorrow will be a better day and next week better yet.  I am on a journey that has many bumps in it and along the way I will find my true and final destination.

I can tell fall is in the air.  My allergies are acting up.  All the veggies in the garden are getting ripe at the same time.  Our apple trees are getting heavy with apples waiting to become pie.  My crafting itch is active and needs scratching.  I did sooth it a little over the weekend and made a new wreath for the front of the house. 
Best of all it's football season!  Yes, I am a football mom.  My youngest is a senior in high school and plays football.  I love high school and college football.  Nothing says fall like a good football game in small town USA.  We live in a small town where main street is just that, it's our main street in town.  We have a grain elevator that flies the American flag from the top, an auto body shop, bar, restaurant, bank, church, cemetery, elementary, middle and high schools.  We have corn fields surrounding the town.  You know the town.  You might even live in the same town down the road.  We rush home from work, put on our team wear, grab dinner and head to the tailgate.  At the tailgate we wait with all the other family's and friends for our local celebrities/heroes to walk the path to the field.  Coach leads the boys who walk hand in hand, united down the path.  Everyone cheers, ring their cowbells and wishes encouragement as the boys march by.  The bagpipers join in and play for the boys, honoring them with their music.   Once they've passed it's time for us to follow and find our seats.  Soon the game will start.  Family and friends file into the stadium and we wait again for these young men who are our stars to take the field.  The time draws nearer and you can feel it in the air, the excitement, the anticipation of the arrival of our boys.  You know they're coming because the music plays over the loud speaker, "Thunderstruck" by ACDC and then all of a sudden they rush onto the field breaking through the banner that the cheerleaders made for them and our town cheers welcoming them to another game and another Friday night in small town USA.  This is fall in my home town!

The Beginning of a Wonderful Relationship!

Today is the beginning of a new world for me.  I am going to start blogging.  My goal is not to bore you but to share with anyone who wants to listen things important in my life.  It seems that as time moves on we lose much of what our parents and grandparents did just for survival.  Today we call it going "green" or "retro".  As a kid we called it being frugal or a necessity.  So as summer has moved on my garden has grown and decided to ripen all at one time.  I've had a bumper crop of tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, banana peppers and zucchini.  As a kid my mother would can or freeze.  Today I don't seem to have as much time to accomplish as much as she did.  I work 40+ hours a week and do find time on the weekend to can a little.  I've recently canned 3 quarts of pickled banana peppers and made a batch of refrigerator bread and butter pickles all from the garden.  I've even made home made spaghetti sauce from all of those tomatoes.  While it may seem to be a daunting task to some I find it to be a stress reliever.  It helps me to separate from work which can, at times, be all consuming.  I am a crafter, quilter and collect cook books.  I have many interests that will show themselves throughout my blog.  I hope you find my world of some interest to you and I look forward to sharing.