Thankful for Nie Nie

I'm sure many of you know Stephanie Nelson from her blog the Nie Nie Dialogues. If you don't you really must check out her very inspirational blog here. I've been following Stephanie's blog since before her plane accident. She was inspirational back then with her amazing exuberance, incredible style, and stories of being a Mom, but after the tragic accident back in August 2008 that almost killed her and her husband, Stephanie's faith, hope, and perseverance amazes me even more.

Not only has Stephanie endured incredible pain from the burns of the plane crash fire, the accident left her so disfigured that it took her own children months to not be afraid of her. It's now been well over a year since the accident and Stephanie is back home raising her children and trying to lead a normal life. She still has many months--even years of surgeries and therapy a head of her, but her faith in God, personal strength, and love of her family keep her focused on the future. Stephanie has shown us what true beauty really is - it's not what we see on the outside but what is on the inside that matters. I'm thankful for having the opportunity to read her blog. She makes my problems seem so irrelevant and she reminds me to be thankful for everything I have. Stephanie inspires me to be a better person by the example that she sets. With more surgeries scheduled for Stephanie in January, please remember to think of her in your prayers.

Click here too see an interview of Stephanie and her husband Christian.

Thank You Veterans!

Swine Flu Yuk!

Early last week I was sick with what I thought was a bad cold, but as things progressed from bad to worse it was apparent that I wasn't dealing with any normal cold. To help me feel better and to reduce the severity of the virus, my doctor put me on a course of Tamiflu. Let me tell ya folks that stuff works wonders! Within 24 hours of taking it I felt better and within 48 hours I could actually get dressed and do things around the house. The only draw back is that the medicine does have a side effect of nausea so you really have to take it with food.

I'm thankful that I have a great family physician as well as a wonderful DH who took care of me over the past week. We took every precaution to make sure that the virus didn't spread to Andy but only time will tell... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Now that I'm back to the land of the living I need to catch up on my blogging and take care of all the things I've neglected around the house. Last night I put up a few Thanksgiving decorations. I never decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving - no reason to rush the season since all the retail stores do that for us.



While I was recovering I didn't get a chance to do any posts for the 30 Days of Thanksgiving so here are the things I've been thankful for these past few days:

I'm so grateful for having Andy in my life. He kept my spirits up, made all of my meals, and generally took care of anything I needed.

On Demand cable. It may seem frivolous but when you're sick the TV is your friend. My eyes hurt too much to read a book so the only activities I could do was sleep and watch TV. Thankfully we have On Demand cable so I was able to watch a ton of great movies.

A nice warm fire. Andy kept the fireplace going the entire time I was sick and the warmth of that fireplace was so comforting and soothing.

Chicken Soup. Need I say more.

Ginger ale. For me this is the best stuff for nausea.

The warm sun and a gorgeous day on the first day you are really feeling better. Ahhhh.... so wonderful!

Home Sick But Thankful

It's Day 3 of the 30 Days of Thanksgiving and I woke up today feeling really awful. Thankfully it doesn't feel like the flu, but my raw scratchy throat, cough, and stuffy nose is no fun either. On days like these I'm thankful for being a telecommuter. There's nothing fun about dragging yourself into work when you are feeling under the weather, and using up time from my sick bank is something I'd rather save for something a bit more serious than a bad cold.



A few months ago our corporate headquarters announced they were shutting down the local branch that I worked at. At first I was told that I'd be laid off, but after a few months they reconsidered and decided to let me keep my job as a telecommuter. I was thrilled at this decision because working from home meant I'd be able to spend more time with my family and more time in my garden.

In my life I've found that whenever something really bad happens something better is always around the corner. Sometimes the good that comes out of bad situation isn't immediately evident and the lessons learned come hard, but with faith and patience the good never fails to happen.



Having our office close and getting laid off couldn't have come at a worse time as our country was experiencing the worse economic recession since the Great Depression and finding a new job would a long journey. But, without our office closing I would have never had the opportunity to telecommute, which is something I've been wanting to do for many years. Of course, I feel awful for my co-workers who didn't get that opportunity, but I have enough faith in God to know that something good is also coming to them -- just in a different way.

A Month of Thankfulness

For the month of November I'm celebrating the 30 Days of Thanksgiving with one post of gratitude for every day of the month. I can't think of a better way to kick off the holiday season than to give thanks for all of our blessings both large and small. If you want to join me, please visit Karla over at her blog Karla's Korner and sign up. As Karla says you can devote an entire post each day to something you're grateful for or just end each post with a simple comment such as "Today I'm thankful for my children."

Of course I'm thankful for my family (both immediate and extended - Andy and Ellie included - goes without saying), my friends both near and far - including the blogging community, my home, my job, my health, and my relationship with God. But, since my life tends to be so busy I often overlook the small things I should be grateful for so for the next 30 days I'm going to concentrate on being thankful for them.

Since I didn't post yesterday I'm devoting this post to 2 things I'm grateful for:

Eyes to see the beautiful colors this time of year even when it's raining, cold, and gets dark early now that the clocks have turned back. This reminds there is beauty and light in all situations even when things seem dark and gray.




A sense of humor and patience as I realize I'll never win the war with the squirrels who keep snacking at our bird feeder so I might as well just let them eat. After all, humor and patience can help get me through the most difficult moments in life with grace and love.

Just look at this deviant little, fat, fellow!

With Much Gratitude to Blotanical Bloggers!

I received a nice surprise yesterday when a blogger congratulated me for winning the Massachusetts Best Blog Award on Blotanical, a gardening bloggers online community. I had no idea I was even in the running. It's such honor to be recognized by my fellow bloggers and the fabulous community of incredible gardeners around the world.

When I started blogging I had hoped that it would be a journal of my gardening endeavors and happenings around our home in Southeastern Massachusetts. I had no idea I'd make such wonderful blogging friends and learn so much from so many incredible people around the globe. You have all inspired me by your beautiful gardens, stunning photography, and heartfelt posts. You've given me great advice and have sent me words of encouragement and prayers during some very personally trying times for me. For all of this I will be forever grateful.

Much love to all! I'm so honored to be a part of this amazing online community!

Bird Happy

If you listen and watch carefully the earth speaks to you. I often get giddy as the beauty of Mother Nature unfolds around me. Like a child with bright eyes and a heart opened wide I'm fascinated by the ripples in a brook, the softness of lush moss growing up the side of tree, and the sparkle of a spider web wet from the morning dew. When I am bestowed with a "God Gift" I get especially excited and will run like lightening to retrieve my camera so I can freeze a moment in time.

Two such occasions happened over the weekend and I was so thrilled to have caught them both in stills - which is rare for me since I'm usually so shaky with excitement that I can't get a clear picture.

First up it was feeding time at a popular bird house in our side garden. So far this year we've hosted 3 bird families here - a titmouse family, then some chickadees, and now sparrows.

As though catching a feeding on digital wasn't thrilling enough I was soon to be treated to another God Gift as I weeded a raised bed. While I knelt down next to the bed I felt something ever so lightly brush up against my leg. It was so soft that at first I thought it was just the wind breezing by (or maybe delirium from too much weeding). But then I caught something out of the corner of my eye - a hoping fluffy ball like a cotton puff dipped in ink. Hop, hop, and hop again - I watched as it bounced by me chirping ever so softly.

My heart started to race as well as my thoughts. "My God it's a baby robin!" I yelled. "It must have fallen from the nest!" I said out loud even though no one was around to hear me. I followed the little fluff as it hopped away - I noticed its feathers were still wet with newness.

Immediately my thoughts turned to how I would rescue the baby bird. Should I pick it up and take it home? Surely it wouldn't survive without some assistance. Thankfully I didn't have to think too long as Mama and Papa soon arrived on the scene thoroughly annoyed (or should I say furious) at my presence. As loving parents should they protected their young by squawking at me and diving for my head - I was never so thankful to be the target of a bird attack!

Amazingly Mama and Papa guided their baby back to the nest in the thicket of a conifer where its siblings waited for the lost one's safe return. Finally the fledgling took its place back in the comfort of its protective family. I then let out a loud sigh of relief as I thanked God for allowing me to experience this precious gift.

Houston Bound

I’m heading off to Houston on a business trip. This trip is bitter sweet for me. I’m excited to go since I’ll have the opportunity to meet new co-workers that are in another state, but at the same time this trip is due to the closing of our Massachusetts facility where I currently work - another casualty of the weak economy.

I work for a large technology company that services the financial industry – companies you would easily recognize. The division I work for handles print mail for many large banks, lenders, and other financial institutions. For example, your credit card bill, 401k statement, dividend check, car loan statement, mortgage coupon, or even your electric bill was very likely printed and mailed from one of our facilities around the country. Before working in this industry I had no idea how complicated it was to produce a credit card bill and get it mailed out. But, after working here for almost 2 years I’ll never look at a piece of mail in the same way again.

Getting the right data on a credit card bill is no easy task, and then getting that bill printed properly on the right paper, inserted in the right envelope with the correct address along with any other materials is accomplished through large printing presses and postal machines based on barcodes and machine-readable digits. Ever wonder why there are barcodes on your bills and statements? The barcode counts the number of pages in your statement and makes sure all pages get inserted together in the right envelope with your mailing address. It’s really quite amazing and without that barcode nothing would get mailed.



The reason for my trip is to assist with the transfer of work from the Massachusetts facility to Houston Operations. I work on the technology side of the business managing projects. Over the past few months after learning that our facility would close I was told that I had two options – I could move to Houston or accept a severance package. For me moving was not an option so I’ve been looking for another job. But then a blessing came. About 2 weeks ago they told me that since I was part of the technology team and didn’t need to be onsite with the operations in Houston they were going to let me keep my job and allow me to telecommute from home. I couldn’t think of anything sweeter when I heard this wonderful news.

As the closing of our facility doors grows nearer I’m thankful that I still have a job but so worried and sad for the almost 200 co-workers who are not as fortunate. Each day as I walk around our facility more large machines leave our building on route in a truck headed for Houston. Every time a machine leaves a person who worked that machine loses their job.



I’ll miss the spirited gentleman that manned the check writing machine. We always had the best conversations about politics. And the funny guy who ran the postal inserters – he always told the best jokes. The forklift machine sits idle like some museum dinosaur. The operator’s wife used to bake the best brownies. Then there is the cute white-haired lady who is 75 years young and hand stuffed envelopes to supplement her social security retirement income. I’ll miss them all and I pray for them each day.

Although this blog is about gardening and decorating, I felt compiled to share what is going on in my life right now and to pay tribute to the people who have lost or will be losing their jobs. Each time I go out into in the garden it’s a blessing for me since I could have very well lost it without having a job to pay the mortgage. I never take anything for granted especially now when so many are in dire need of help.

As a sign of hope for all those who have lost their jobs during the finanacial crisis of our country, I'm posting this picture of a banyan tree.


In Hindu religion, the banyan tree is considered sacred and is called "Ashwath Vriksha" ("I am Banyan tree among trees" - Bhagavad Gita). It represents eternal life because of its seemingly ever-expanding branches. In Hindu mythology, the banyan tree is also called kalpavriksha meaning 'wish fulfilling divine tree'.