121 - Read a Birthday Book to a Birthday Celebrant!

Today I surprised my grandson, Andrew, on his sixth birthday by sneaking into the library during story time to read the book, Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss. It's a fun and very silly book about a birthday celebration in the land of Katroo. It also carries a message of being proud of who you are.

My boss, who is a loving and caring person, called me on my birthday over a year ago and treated me to a wonderful and happy reading of this Dr. Seuss birthday celebration book. Since then I have read it to fifteen people, in person and on the phone. It's a really hilarious way to help someone celebrate their birthday. And once you have bought the book, you are set to make people happy over and over again!

120 - Go to the Movies by Yourself!

I have been going to the movies by myself for years. I love the freedom of not having to ask friends and arrange a convenient time for them, consult with them about their movie choice, or have to make several calls before I find someone who is available to go to the movies at the last minute. I love the feeling of being in the movie theater and going off into another world of make believe. I don't have to worry if anyone else likes the movie, if they're enjoying their snacks, or if they're going to talk to me during a crucial scene.

The first movie I went to alone was "On Golden Pond" with Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda. I knew right away that going to the movies by myself was a new and wondrous stress reliever. Last night I broke another barrier -- I went to the movies by myself on "date night" - Saturday night! I had avoided that all these years, but it worked out great! Now I can truly go to the movies by myself any day, any time!

P.S. There are times when going to the movies with other people is funner than fun!

Zentangles in Zanesville!

On Thursday, I had the privilege of teaching Zentangles (see zentangle.com) to the Zanesville Appalachian Arts Project group at their exciting gallery. As I was passing out kits, one gentleman said he didn't need one, that he was going to woodburn his Zentangle. He had his woodburning equipment set up and was ready to go.

It's fun to teach Zentangles to anyone, but teaching to artists who are already creatively aware usually produces some very interesting and exciting results.

I had a chance to meet a lot of artists who use different mediums and it was fun to introduce them to Zentangles. I wish I lived around Zanesville so I could see how the Zentangle approach might manifest itself in their art in the future!

At the end of the class, David J. Yocum, my woodburning artist, presented me with the piece of oak he had been working on! It is the most exciting treasure to have come from my Zentangle teaching career so far.

119 - The Annual Dance of Spring!

Each year, I host an Annual Dance of Spring, which involves inviting some of my friends to come over to have some treats, and then to welcome Spring by dancing around a big old tree in our yard while waving scarves.

It has turned into a really fun tradition which I look forward to all Winter. I start a countdown to Spring in the middle of Winter, so on really cold and snowy days, when someone complains, I can announce the exact number of days until Spring. Just knowing that there will be silly festivities to celebrate the coming of warmer weather is really fun.

This year, the Queens of Spring were Kim, Dottie, Rose, Jean, and Mary Ellen.

118 - Flower Bulbs in Action!

This is the time of year for those of us who live in Northern climates to be welcoming Spring. One of my favorite indications of Spring is when the flowering bulbs start to appear. First their leaves, with the promise of more, and then the emergence of color and beauty in crocuses, snow drops, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and more. I have a few hyacinths in my yard that are up and in bud, and I check them regularly to see their progress. The dark purple one is winning the development race so far, but I know the others are not far behind. Even in the middle of Winter, I take comfort in knowing that bulbs, not only in my yard, but in places everywhere, are just biding their time to make their way upwards to dazzle us once again!

This year, I even have an amaryllis bulb in my kitchen. For some reason, her name is Amy, and she is a fast growing pot full of amazement. If I am in the kitchen for any length of time, I can almost see progress in her growth. Every morning, I look forward to seeing what she has achieved overnight. I never had an amaryllis before, and now I know what all the fuss is about.

There is a park in my area that has thousands of daffodils, and it is a festival of yellow fun to visit each year when they are in bloom. Hooray for bulbs, wherever they are!

FloatFest - a Zentangle Retreat

Carole Ohl, with wonderful help from her husband Daved, and another Certified Zentangle (see zentangle.com) Teacher, Peg Farmer, created an amazing FloatFest from March 17-20 at the Oakwood Retreat Center in Selma Indiana. There were about twelve of us from a four state area, who feasted on amazing food, and participated in workshops on mandalas, watercolor pencils (photo is my beginning result of that workshop), tangling around words, and shading, along with tangles (patterns) galore! My friends Estelle and Jean went with me and we were in Zentangle Heaven! People shared tangles that they had created, had a sharing table with incredible Zentangle inspired art, and told stories of wild Zentangle adventures. Carole's blog information is "openseedarts.blogspot.com" and is in the lower right hand corner of this blog if you want to be dazzled by some Zentangle excitement. She is also a nationally known bead artist. Thank you, Carole, Daved, Peg, and everyone at Oakwood for a splendid time.

117 - Things I Get To Do

Since I am not a morning person, I am always looking for ways to make getting out of bed an enthusiastic adventure. This morning, while I was contemplating hitting the snooze alarm again, I started thinking about some of the things I "get to do" today -- have the fresh fruit for breakfast that my daughter, Maribeth, made for the "Annual Dance of Spring" party yesterday, go to my Dad's where he will fix me corned beef and cabbage for lunch and provide terrific conversation, make some business calls and get to talk to people about WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) - which I love to do, have a conference call on the WRAP Around the World conference, and meet my family for our Tuesday night dinner! Wow! And those are just the highlights! When I think in terms of "things I GET to do", then I realized how very blessed I am to have an active life, and getting out of bed to jump into it seems like a really great idea!