Have a beautiful Big life, filled with happy people and wondrous places, by sharing my many strengths and talents for fun and profit! =)

I’ve just finished putting my photos from Nice up on Flickr. Such wondrous places! The night we got to Nice, we walked down to the Placé Massena, with its black and white checkerboard concrete and its glowing statues, towering above the plaza. We watched street dancers. I put my feet in the Mediterranean Sea. We ate dinner at 11 o’clock at night and saw a carousel that was built in 1900.

The next morning, we ate unbelievably exquisite croissants and pastries at a patisserie around the corner from our hotel. The Hotel Comté de Nice was a charming little establishment, but the best part of the lodging was that my daughter, who was just finishing up her Study Abroad program, did her first bit of grown-up negotiating in getting us the hotel, and was waiting there for us when we got to town.

Looking through the photographs would have been like being back in France again anyway, but as I was using Google maps to find the sites in my pictures, I discovered that the little yellow man can actually jump down from the arrows and show the street view of wherever you are. That is so AWESOME!!! So I virtually wandered around Nice all over again, completely enveloping myself in the city to the point that when I looked up from my computer, I actually had a little shock to find myself back home and in America.

I saw my friend at church a few weeks ago. After the exuberant greetings were exchanged, she said, “So… you sew, right?”

I uttered a very cautious, “yeah… why?”

Well, her daughter is going on a Pioneer Trek and all she needed was 2 aprons and 2 bonnets to lend some authenticity to the experience.

I made some really cute bib aprons with secret pockets on the inside, and a couple large-brim sunbonnets with back flaps for neck protection.

They turned out fabulous and she gave me a big hug when I delivered them to her between meetings at church on Sunday. To “pay” me, she’s going to treat me to lunch one of these days.

My peeps are already in a little uproar over who gets what part of me next weekend.

I’m not sure what to think of it, but it’s kind of nice that they want to spend time with me.

My user friend finally got her RN today. I tutored her through algebra FOUR times, and helped her write all her papers for nursing school. I know a lot about nursing school now! ;)

Anyway, my mom and I went to her graduation and pinning. Nice little ceremonies. Her sister dropped by at the graduation. That is the nice way of saying that she asked me to save seats for her entire family and then they showed up late, climbed over everyone, and after about 20 minutes, left early. The graduate never even got to see her that her sister was there. Flake. That is no doubt why I have to pick up the slack for this girl. Both her parents are gone, so my mom fills in, too.

After sharing my strengths in math, science, and paper-writing, I was pleased to see the fruits of my labors coming to fruition. The whole situation reminds me of the Andy Griffith Show—how whenever poor old Barney was floundering, good old Andy would show up and bail him out without Barney ever realizing what a screw-up he was. I got her through the course work. Now the REAL work begins and she will have to learn for herself. I wish her luck!!! :)

In the past two weeks, we have taken out the old, overgrown garden and put a beautiful courtyard in front of our house!

We put in a bunch of plants: a tall, fluffy bird of paradise, a pomegranate bush, some flowering plants the hummingbirds will LOVE, and some cute ground cover that the neighbor across the street wants to contribute. An uncle is also giving me some queenswreath to grow against the house itself. The crowning jewel of the new front yard is to put in a large tree, which we brought home this afternoon.

This is getting very exciting!

We went. We had fun. I will cross-post this under my New and Fulfilling goal, but the ancient Mayan ruin of Cobá is definitely a wonderous place!

... or something like that.

I was asked to speak in church on Sunday about one of my favorite topics ever—Simplicity! And Abundance, and how they ARE NOT mutually exclusive. My talk was 14 minutes long and SO MANY people said they loved it and that they would remember it for a long time. =D
Then as soon as my talk was over, the choir had a musical number, so I went from the pulpit to the choir loft to sing, “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” That was my Sunday ~ Bright and Beautiful!

Wednesday (yesterday) was a really long, really fun day.

I got an email Tuesday night from my neighbor, asking me if she could come over at 8am to use my paints to finish a little craft she was working on. She would also be bringing her 4-yr-old. I wrote back that I would make breakfast and lay out the BIG paper so the little one could paint too.

I prepared quite a spread for breakfast, so we ate and visited and I helped her with her painting. It was so fun!

I had expected this to take maybe an hour, but they were here until 12:30, so I made them lunch, too (soup, quesadillas and fruit).

As soon as they left, I got a call from my niece, inviting me to lunch. I had only eaten a small bowl of soup, so I accepted and we went out for Israeli food. Afterwards, I designed curtains for her new bedroom, helped her make them, and fed her a three course salmon dinner.

Later, I got another call, this time from my brother, with whom I haven’t spoken for a couple months. I sent him a bday card a few weeks ago, and he was calling to thank me! We caught up for about half an hour.

It was quite the day. :)

... the Bride liked them a lot!

In the last four weeks (since school started), I have taught first grade, Kindergarten and fourth grade. I have tested literacy skills and done both Intermediate and Primary Reading Intervention. I have helped my little tutoring client write a report she can use as an example of good work all the way through high school.

In the next four weeks, I will design the floral package for a wedding and begin a new season working at the local Corn Maze.

All that while taking a class on Tuesdays and piano lessons and practice every week, too.

My life is a beautiful, Big canvas, full of wonderfully colorful opportunities to splash as much paint on it as I can!