A Requiem for Lets Blog Off

                                             

I am sadden to learn of the death of LetsBlogOff.  Born of Veronika Miller, Rufus Dogg, Rich Holschuh, and Paul Anater in June of 2010 to answer the question "what is design?"  With four parents it is no wonder the question inspired four different answers.  That, to me, is what has made LetsBlogOff so unique: a lively spirit full of varying thoughts willing to invoke discussion.   


I coo'd over all the LetsBlogOff participants for a few months but wasn't willing to personally join because the writing was so eloquent.  At least until November 2010 when the subject was too perfect. I had to high jack my BFF blog to write my very first blog post.   I am not a writer but that post was easy.  It was due to my own insecurities that it took another 5 months before the attraction became too much and my own blog was born just in order to participate in LetsBlogOff.    


The subjects have been varied.  From the serious Truth vs. Fact and Privacy Today to the funny Thumbtacks.  I believe that subject was picked on a dare :)  I have learned a lot too.  About writing.  About grace. About fun. About travel. About food.  About integrity.  Being fearless.  I also learned a lot about myself.  


I will never be a prolific writer but LetsBlogOff provided me a place to start.  I want to thank Paul, Rufus, Veronika and Rich for their inspiration, time, and generosity. I look forward to see what they conceive next!


Please take a moment and read my fellow participants posts:

Flowers - It doesn't take much

                                                     

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff wanted to talk about flowers! 

I take care of a friends cat when she goes out of town and Easter weekend was one of those times.  I have written about her home before here.  Friday evening when I walked through her back gate I immediately inhaled a delightful whiff of jasmine.  Between the smell and the visual my whole body just relaxed.

Not just a pretty flower

When I arrived back home I saw this.  I have been walking past these dead mums since last November.   

How hard is it to go to a nursery or even a box store and pick up a flowering plant? 

It took a 3 day weekend but now I see this and it looks a lot better.  I bet my neighbors think so too!

Part of the issue is that my front porch faces West and the amount of sun it receives in the late afternoon wilts the best of plants.  After killing many many plants I now keep a watering can filled with water on the front porch.  Of course that didn't help the mums.  

Check out what my fellow LetsBlogOff gardeners have to say on the subject!

A Baker and a Candlestick Maker

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff is all about Cookies! 

                                                     

My mom was not a great cook or even a good cook though she tried.   I didn’t know vegetables could taste good until I moved into my own apartment & started learning how to cook.  What my mom could do well was bake!  She didn’t bake often mostly for church & school bake sales and Christmas.  She also made candlesticks and you can see them here.

I grew up in a house with a wonderful kitchen.  It was long with two large corner windows at the end with table & chairs tucked in.  The stove was a drop in and the oven was a separate wall unit located near the garage door.  There was also a long counter on the sink side of the space.  Keep in mind these are my memories, my mom may have hated the fact that there was no counters directly next to the stove or the ovenJ  I knew good smells were on the horizon when I saw the mixer pulled out and set up on the counter.

 

www.mexicanwedding.org

The three very distinct cookies I remember my mom baking were: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Drop Cookies & Gingerbread Men.  I am sure she made others I just can’t recall.  I probably remember these three because I was allowed to “help”.  I rolled the Mexican Wedding Cookies in the powdered sugar (I can’t imagine the mess I made) and set them out on the cookies sheets.  For the Drop Cookies I unrolled the Hersey Kisses and “dropped” them onto the cookie.  I think I ate as many as I dropped.  The gingerbread men were fun because I always was handed the leftover dough to make whatever I wanted!

www.bakerella.com

www.starkinsider.com

My sister-in-law has carried on the tradition and has my mom’s recipe cards.  Anytime I visit, cookies from my mom’s recipes are always on the counter! 

Let's Blog Off I've Got the Music in Me!

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question what song gets stuck in your head? 


For me it seems every song is stuck in my head.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t listen to music. I still have my parent’s album Herb Albert’s Tijuana Brass Whipped Cream and Other Delights. 

Thankfully I have a brother 8 years older than me so I grew up listening to great music.  Motown was just getting started; The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Who were all the rage!  There is an embarrassing video of me (that has since been converted to DVD thanks to my brother) that has me doing the pony to Mony Mony the 1968 single by Tommy James & the Shondells, I was around 7 years of age.  No you will never see it.

I was a dedicated viewer of The Monkees   R.I.P. Davy Jones my first crush. 

and The Partridge Family. 

I sang (badly) and danced around the house all the time.  I was a huge fan of The Jackson 5 and only mildly into The Osmond’s.   Soul Train, American Bandstand and MTV were other huge parts of my life growing up.  Thinking back I must have driven my mother nuts.

I graduated from high school in 1980 and it was a fight between Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

and Disco

Good sense won over and my class song was Stairway to Heaven!  But I did learn how to Hustle!

Nice to know a new generation is also learning it!

Thankfully I was introduced to show tunes and musicals by two roommates.  We played darts to

The Music Man

 Jesus Christ Superstar

My music tastes now range from all the above to gospel like Blind Boys of Alabama

Lady Gaga

Joss Stone

I even like some hip hop and rap.  Just some though. 

Going back to the original question of LetsBlogOff what song can get stuck in my head? It’s a Small World is the worst for me!   I am not including a link because you don’t need to hear it ;)

Please follow the links to my fellow participants posts on what songs are stuck in their head!

The Smell of Memories

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question what smell takes you back?

If the wind is just right there are days, when walking the streets of Tampa, I get a whiff of ocean air.  My mind immediately pulls up memories of weekends, while in high schoo,l spent at the beach in Lake Worth with my friends playing football, frisbee and checking out the cute guys.  Fun times, simpler times. 

Someone in my neighborhood must walk frequently past my house while smoking.  While I never see them I will be in my house, smell the cigarette smoke and immediately think my mom must be near.  Not the most pleasant smell but my mom smoked and that is what I remember.   Sometimes it makes me cry and other times smile.  I always remember having to clean out the ashtrays.  Yuck!

I live in the Sunshine State and oranges are big business.  I have a tree in my backyard.  The orange blossom smell is delightful however there is another orange smell that immediately makes me gag.  When I was a kid I refused to swallow pills so I was a challenge to the doctor & my mother whenever I was sick.  One time the doctor gave my mother a medicine in liquid form - orange tasting.  It ended up on my mother's shoes most times.  I was walking through a mall one time and that exact smell came over me and it took everything in my power not to vomit right then and there!

Cinnamon - ah a lovely smell!  My mom baked and I was always given a small amount of dough to make whatever I wanted with.  No matter what I made - gingerbread man, a star cookie, a roadrunner (loved the cartoon) I had to put cinnamon on top.  

What smell today will make a memory tomorrow?

Please check out my fellow participants of Lets Blog Off and read what smell means to them!

A Half a Century - Really?

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question  what would you change if you could turn back time? 

This year marks a milestone birthday for me and honestly I am having a bit of a time wrapping my brain around this number.   I am currently the age my mother was when she was diagnosed with lung cancer after smoking all of her adult life (don't smoke!).  In a few months I will be the same age as my mom when she died so I have been thinking about the past a lot recently.  


I think we all have had moments when perhaps we acted less than honorable and wish we could take back the hurtful words flung in anger or hurt.  It is part of being human and though I can't change my past actions I certainly can analyze those reactions and change my future actions.  But would I change something major in my past life?  Not really.  Love, money and people have all come and gone but I wouldn't be who I am today without experiencing all those good and bad moments. 

deshforum.com

I can take those lessons and begin each day anew.  I can make the time to work on my creative side.  I can choose to capture that big voice of fear and work to make it nary a squeak.   I can choose to see myself as my friends see me.  My wonderful caring friends who wouldn't keep me in their lives if I wasn't also wonderful and caring.  I can encourage other women to be their best.  I can relish in the amazing technology that has transpired in my lifetime that has allowed me to meet new people across the globe all via Social Media.  I can look at the lines on my face and know I came by them honestly. 


"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it"  Golda Meir


Please take some time to read what the other participants in LetsBlogOff shared about looking back

Valuing Expertise - Let's Blog Off

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question How do we accommodate the Ikeas and the Wal-Marts of the world while at the same time making a living? Where does price stop and value start?

I am going to start this Lets Blog Off with a story that happened to me several years ago.  I was in a Home Depot trying to find something specific and was trying to decide between several varieties of some thingamabob.  Somewhere nearby someone mentioned doors and my brain started paying attention.  It turned out I was standing near the door department and a woman was trying to order a door.  The HD associate was asking her which way the door swung.  Unfortunately he couldn't convey his question in a way she understood.  After listening (basically eavesdropping) for a few minutes I walked over and asked if I could help since I was in the door business.  The HD associate was less than thrilled.  All I did was take a piece of paper and write exterior and interior on it, drew two lines that represented walls and one line that represented the door.  I was able to ask the woman, while showing her the crude drawing, when standing on the exterior side of the door which side were the hinges on and did the door swing into the room or out of the room?  She answered quickly and easily.  I looked at the HD associate and said there you go. He stilled looked less than thrilled but the woman thanked me profusely and I continued on my way.  

While this story proves that my expertise in the door business is valuable I still have to make a living which to be honest is very tough in Florida.  It is all about the bottom line versus quality here.  In order to be competitive I no longer put a dollar line item in my quotes for my time and knowledge to create submittals, key schedules, tag hardware, and all the other many small services that come up on a project.  If I did I would never close a job.  My hope is that because my service and expertise are given willingly the general contractor or end user will come back to me for the next project.  So far it has worked.

Please read the other contributors point of view below as they are much wiser than me :)

Thanksgiving

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question so what’s a good Thanksgiving food memory for you? 

Honestly - and this goes against tradition I know - the best food Thanksgiving I ever had was the first year I moved back to Florida.  I lived in an apartment complex and had made a couple of friends through walking my dog.  Dog owners know - when you know the dogs name but not the humans :)  Anyway most people left for Thanksgiving but another woman also had no plans to visit family so we decided to get together. 

We met early Thanksgiving afternoon and took our two respective dogs to the dog beach where the pooches had the run of the beach.  After a few hours we packed up and drove back to the apartment complex and started our Thanksgiving dinner.  We threw some zucchini, yellow squash, red peppers on the grill to get them toasty.  Then we placed our main dish - swordfish steaks - on the grill.  Everything was perfect and tasty.  Our only concession to tradition was a pumpkin pie which we were eating by the pool as the sun set.  

For a Thanksgiving that I had thought was going to be pretty pitiful after deciding not to visit my family, it turned out to be a beautiful day.  

I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with the joy of being on this beautiful earth.

Knowing our group of bloggers you will find great recipes and more Thanksgiving food by reading their LetsBlogOff posts: 

Home

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic.  This week LetsBlogOff asks the question: What is home to you?

In almost a half of century of life I have never lived in a neighborhood like Seminole Heights.  I grew up in south Florida and the area was just big to feel homey.  I followed my heart to New Hampshire when I was 25 and wow was it hard to make friends up there.  Thankfully my former husband had a great family and a few close friends because that made up my family.  When we went our separate ways I lived in a sub division for two years, walking my dog three times a day and no matter how many times I said hello to people I never got more than a nod back. 


When I moved to Tampa I rented for a while to get the lay of the land.  I knew I wanted a neighborhood without deed restrictions, with mature trees and central to the city.  I found Seminole Heights and loved loved loved the houses.  1920 bungalows were the norm.  I moved in 9 years ago and a place has never felt more like home to me than this neighborhood.  


Neighbors actually dropped in to say hello and brought bake goods.  I joined a local yoga group where 6 out of 8 of us plus our instructor live in the neighborhood.  All of us live within minutes of one another.  Pick up the phone for an impromptu yappy hour and people and dogs will be there.  Call to say I have a heavy piece of furniture I need help moving and someone will be there before you have hung up the phone.  Whenever I go to our little grocery store I always run into friends.  This past trip I saw a friend who belonged to the same book club as I did a few years back.  We hadn't seen each other for a year or so and gosh I realized how much I missed her.  


We watch out for each other here in the 'hood.  We have a very strong sense of community.  One of the original owners on my block passed away a few years ago.  Most of the block went to the funeral.  She was in her early 80's and I loved listening to her stories from 50 years ago. Mrs. Linderman was the one that told me about why my living room isn't square, it has a strange little nook in it.  The builder's wife played the organ. She was so talented other churches asked her to play for them too.  The nook in the living room is where the organ resided.  It had to be close to the front door because most of the other churches were too poor to have their own organ, Mrs. Hudson had to bring her own!


Several years ago my brother and sister in law and my two nephews visited for the first time and I decided to throw a party in my backyard.  I invited neighbors, friends, yoga chickees, my boss and his wife who lived in the 'hood.  All these wonderful different mixes of people and my BFF drove 2 1/2 hours to be here too!  I had a blast but what made me feel really good was the next morning my brother and I were drinking coffee in the backyard and he turned to me and said what a special place I had found.  He felt it too.

1948 

Please take some time and read the other participants talented writing in Lets Blog Off

Lets Blog Off - Privacy - right......

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question what is this thing called privacy? 

I think there is a definite line that was drawn between my generation and the next youngest.  Social media wasn't prevalent when I was growing up.  If I took a picture I had to wait to have it developed before being able to see it.  I mailed checks to pay my bills.  I never completed an application, for anything, on line.  

I love the internet and most of what it offers but I am also wary of it.  I know anything I type, on any forum including this blog, is out in the universe forever.  I have a friend, age 38, who doesn't seem to mind and posts all kinds of things to her Facebook page.  Things I would NEVER post.   Personally I am not a fan of Facebook and only have a page because so many of my friends who don't live near me post pictures of their kids.  I rarely update my wall.  I am very careful with Twitter, LinkedIn and now Google +.  Potential employers, mortgage lenders, apartment complexes, credit card companies, insurance companies are all now searching social media before approving applicants.  

It scares me that since I have been shopping on line for a pair of boots for the past few weeks  I now see ads pop up on websites I visit that are all about shoes and boots.  

Other parts of my life also have less privacy.  I remember when I applied and was hired for a job at a dentist office on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, FL.  I was 20.  In order to work in Palm Beach I had to have an ID card to get on the island.  I was fingerprinted for the first time in my life to work for a DENTIST.  These days most of us are subject to a urine test at anytime by our employers.  When I walk down a street I now assume that I am on film.  Either a business with security cameras or a person with a cell phone camera for whatever reason.  

I do feel that my privacy rights are slowly being stripped away and it concerns me.  I wonder what the United States will be like in 20 years.  Will the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights still be in effect?  Will I be able to peacefully protest for my beliefs?  Yes I wonder. 

Please take a moment to read what the other participants in Lets Blog Off feel about Privacy.

Thumbtacks

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question would our followers actually read a blog about thumbtacks? 

www.craftstew.com

I looked at the subject for this week’s Lets Blog Off and said what the heck? So I did what has now become the norm when I am not sure of a subject…I Googled it.  Google does not differentiate between push pins and thumbtacks.  There were some cool sites that people used push pins to create art but I am pretty sure someone will write a blog post about the difference between push pins and thumbtacks so I didn’t go there.

What I did fine was a very interesting Thumbtack Experiment  where teachers actually allow the kids to play with thumbtacks.  The students keep track of how many times the tacks land point up versus point down.  I wondered how many land in the ceiling (maybe Fox Mulder conducted this experiment in school hence the pencils).  Anyway the students have to report on it.  It was pretty interesting so please check it out.

I also found an article about the most stupid and cruel use of thumbtacks and was very dishearten by the human race.  Apparently some idiot(s) felt inconvenience by a large group of bike riders and left a BUNCH of thumbtacks on the road.  Won’t hurt a car’s tires but will puncture bicycle tires.  Stupid.

Further searching found a business named Thumbtacks.  It is a web directory listing service.  Apparently it also has some intrigued attached to it.

If the thumbtack has a magnet on it is it still a thumbtack?  See this is why I love LBO – for the philosophical questions.

Who said to always leave your audience wanting more?  Well here you go.  I know you will want more of this thumbtacks jewelry!   Hey it would stay in place!!!

Feel free to leave your thumbtack story in the comment section.

The best part about this week’s LBO is that Rufus’s corporation will be donating $10.00 for every LetsBlogOff post published today to Jane Devin’s Kickstarter fund.  If you don’t know who Jane Devin is she wrote a phenomenal book called Elephant Girl.  I know because I read it.  In 2 days.  Yes it really is that good. 

There are many other participants in LetsBlogOff that are much more creative than I.  Please check out their blog posts also:

Let’s Blog Off – 2031

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic.  This week LetsBlogOff asks the question where do you see yourself in 20 years? 

In 20 years I will be just shy of 70 which is very shocking to me.  I am on the shorter side of this chapter now.

The age of women of my yoga group range from 38 to 60 and most of us are kid free. We talk about this subject a lot.  Several of us are dealing with aging parents and some parents are handling aging and the next chapter pragmatically and others not at all.  Death is inevitable how you face it is not.

Historic Shed

I have had an idea for several years now of many tiny cottages built in a U.  The open end of the U would have a large outdoor screened in kitchen with gardens filled with vegetables, herbs and flowers.  The gardens would be in containers about 35” off the ground and on wheels to help ease back issues.  The cottages would be very simple 1 bedroom/1 bath with a kitchenette to offer privacy and personal space.  The outdoor kitchen would be the heart of the complex.  I think everyone would have to own an equal share almost like a co-op. 

When this idea started floating around in my head I didn’t give a lot of thought about location except it would need to be near health care.  Tampa isn’t necessarily the quaint town that I imaged yet Seminole Heights could be.  When I bought my current home 9 years ago the idea wasn’t in the forefront of my decision.  I live on a ½ acre about 10 minutes from downtown and also near hospital and medical facilities. It is also ½ block from a bus line.  The neighborhood is currently zoned for single family homes but a new type of zoning has been discussed with the city called formed based zoning.  If it passes my block would be zoned mixed so I think I could actually build the cottages. 

For me life is being surrounded by friends, family, having laughter and joy, and also having a purpose be it volunteering or with a job.  It is just the simple things.

Please check out the other participants life in 20 years.

Let’s Blog Off – Traditions

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic.  This week LetsBlogOff asks the question: What traditions do you keep?

Growing up my family didn’t have a lot of traditions.  Ours was a tiny family: mom, dad, brother who is 8 years older and me.  It got tinier when my dad left when I was 8.  My mom did her absolute best with little money to spare in giving my brother and I what we needed. 

The only tradition I remember to be honest, are the money cakes.  Each birthday my mom would bake a cake from scratch and in the cake would be money!  She would wash pennies, nickels, dimes and one quarter and carefully wrap wax paper around each one.  After she poured the cake batter into the round cake pans she dropped each coin into the batter. 

When dinner was done, the cake presented, candles blown out and Happy Birthday sung she always said to be careful biting down and swallowing, you never know what you may find in your cake!  Whoever found the quarter was always the lucky one for the night.  Of course whomever birthday it was always seem to find it ;)  It was like a treasure hunt! 

My birthday fell 6 weeks after my mom died when she was only 50 years old.  My best friend at the time had heard me tell the money cake story many times so in honor of my mom she baked one for that birthday, my 22^nd.    To this day it is one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me.

Below you will find all the participants in this week’s LetsBlogOff.  The list magically grows throughout the day so check back often!

Let’s Blog Off – Summertime blues

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic.  This week LetsBlogOff asks the question:  How do you relax and recharge?

Summer in Florida is hot, humid and buggy.  For my business it is also the busiest so I have learned not to vacation during the summer.  A week at the beach would be quite lovely as would a week in Italy but alas I am a true American and don’t do a good job at making it a priority.  I do have a vacation in the mountains scheduled for October though.

In the meantime I settle for yappy hours, lots and lots of ‘em!  Yappy hour is when my friends and their dogs come over; we break out food and beverages and chat while the dogs play.  Similar to children’s play dates only we aren’t changing diapers.

Laughter and hilarity ensue while the dogs run to and fro, makes for tired dogs and very happy adults.  I would share more but what happens during yappy hour stays in yappy hour ;)

Throughout the day the list of participants will magically grow, please check back often for your reading pleasure.

Let’s Blog Off – Guilty Pleasures – What’s your favorite show on television?

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic.  This week LetsBlogOff asks the question: What’s the show you’re hooked on but are kind of embarrassed by?

Three years ago I watched a lot of TV.  I had 100 channels to choose from and the TV was on A LOT!  This partly comes from living by myself and liking background noise plus the dogs don’t bark at every little sound.  Then my budget became much tighter, like a lot of people and I had to cut corners, one of the hardest was the DVR and all but basic cable.  Basic cable is up to the History Channel, no Food Network, no Bravo, no SciFy and no ESPN. 

Honestly in the beginning it was tough but you know what?  I survived!  In fact I am reading more, listening to NPR and doing more projects around the house.    Now all that doesn’t mean I don’t watch any TV because I do but I am good if I miss an episode too.

I really enjoy Glee.  I love the singing and dancing but especially feel the cast represents all facets of people and some of the subjects have been eye opening. Admitting I watch Glee doesn’t embarrass me.   I like Bones too. It’s funny and the artistic creativity of getting the bodies to look as gross as possible is amazing.  I am not embarrassed to say I watch Bones, at least not yet.  It is getting repetitive though.

So what do I watch that is hard for me to admit?  Well since OWN came into being I have been watching a lot of it.  Especially some of the celebrity shows like Shania Twain and I will watch Sarah Ferguson when it starts later this month.  Why? Because it is nice to know that no matter how rich, how pretty, or how talented, everyone has issues to overcome.  The point is to overcome them. Maybe by watching I will have my own ah ha moment and some piece of me will click into place. 

The reason I am reluctant to mention these shows is it seems that people either love or hate Oprah.  I personally think her story is inspiring, full of grit and determination.  OWN, so far, has had positive stories and I like that there is a documentary series.  The first documentary was following Chaz Bono through the transgender transformation.  It was fascinating and difficult for me to watch.  Difficult in the fact I have never had a problem with being born a woman. I am a big believer if I am uncomfortable with a subject than I don’t know enough about it.

I don’t watch all the shows on OWN because I have this great power called an off button.  I learned in my teenage years the power of the off button though this story strays from the intent of the LetsBlogOff subject.  I was home sick from high school and was on the couch with the tv on.  The Phil Donahue Show came on and it just happened that the show I was watching was the first broadcast of a same sex wedding.  This was the late 70’s and I will be honest I was uncomfortable so I turned it off.  The hate that was spewed toward the two brave gentlemen expressing their love and the Phil Donahue Show shocked me.  Why didn’t these people just turned their tv’s off too?  Really death threats because two people fell in love? 

Thankfully I have grown since those days and so long as a person is kind I could care less what color, sexual orientation, gender or weight that person is. 

I am sure the Housewives of ___________ (fill in county here) is fascinating and I might watch if I had the channel (Anderson Cooper does) but what I like best about my TV is the ability to turn it off.  I just wish I did a bit more often.
Please read the other participants of LetsBlogOff below.  The list magically expands so check back often.

Let’s Blog Off – What is my favorite color? Well...

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic.  This week LetsBlogOff asks the question what is your favorite color?  Not surprisingly, since I was born under the first sun sign, it's all about red.

Red food taste so good it was hard to narrow down the selection ....



http://www.laloosh.com/



Red is so striking in the garden



http://www.fineartamerica.com/





http://www.greennature.com/



A redhead paved the way for women

Everyone knows this red is a symbol of help

A red leather chair will look good in my library someday

http://redleatherchair.net/

And lastly because there is no place like home

Please take a moment to read the other participants in LetsBlogOff