Today I finally felt excited. The closing of my new home is pending and today I met my realtor and some close friends at my future new home. They wanted to go over it with a fine tooth comb, even though it had a good inspection because these friends know they will probably be asked by me at some point to fix something. They are good friends, no, great friends. 

I measured the bathroom for a framed mirror and my walk in closet for new shelving and poles to hang my clothes, as the old system is a midge madge of wire shelving and not connected well. I measured for curtains in my son’s rooms, and started looking for overhead lights for the bedrooms. 

My friends are excited for me, and when I asked one of them too keep his eye open for a swing set for my youngest son, he said he had one for us.  I am looking forward to living closer to these friends as they always seemed much more like family. 

Afterwards my son and I decided to try out a local tavern for breakfast.  All the locals were there after church and were quite friendly. After breakfast we explored our future little home town and made note of all the things we want to see and do. Once the snow falls they have a big community sledding hill, we scoped out the back way to the grocery store and found the club house to the local golf course within walking distance, I can see the 5^th fairway from the front of my future home.  At least I think it’s the 5^th one anyway. We are so excited to have a family room downstairs where we can all hang out together, Jack will have nice carpeted floors to put his Lego’s together or push his tractors around.  I have paint samples picked out and pictures of rooms I want to decorate. 

Yes, it will be nice to finally have a place of our own.  Even if we will be moving a week before Christmas, none of us can wait.  The biggest decision was the first box to unpack.. That was easy, the Christmas tree of course.  We have a lot to be thankful for this year. 

Peace to you all.

Mary

Hello bright light up in the sky
Have you come to comfort me tonight?
Are you close to me or are you far?
Tell me, are you satellite or star?

Will you lead me North? Will you lead me South?
Or will you keep me wandering around?
Can you help me find my way back home?
For I have no vision of my own.

Cuz I’m a traveller, a weary traveller
And I’m not sure where to find my home
Can you take me there? Can you lead me back
To the one I love the most

My vagrant ways have done me in
Of all the places I have been
There is not one as great or warm
Or beautiful as my own home

Cuz I’m a traveller, a weary traveller
And I’m not sure where to find my home
Can you take me there? Can you lead me back
To the one I love the most

So star, go on and shine above
Lead me to the man I love
And when you’re gone at morning light
I’ll see you in my lover’s eyes

The Megnificent Made Etsy store will be closed for a few days (11/22 – 11/24) while I move from Sydney to New York. The move will be for a few months while I work out the mess of visas and residency. Behind I will be leaving Graham and our piggies but will have the opportunity to spend time with my family and friends in New York through the holidays and then some. Bitter sweet as always!

I intend to sell and post from New York so bare with me while I get my feet on the ground again!

It’s very dreary, inside the house.

Walked the li’l crits, it was cold and Bella, the older beagle, could barely keep up with Gracie.

Went to the Honeybaked Ham store in Palo Alto (just north of San Antonio Road), and such was hubby’s panic at the thought of never being able to taste Honeybaked Ham again, that he bought an eight-lb. ham, and four side dishes (!!@@##) even though there are only three of us at home for Thanksgiving.

Self still recovering from loss of the Axe yesterday. But, will wonders never cease? The worst team in the league, the Oakland Raiders, shocked the Cincinnati Bengals by beating them this afternoon, 20 to 17.

Let’s see, what else did self do this weekend?

Oh yes, self stayed up until 2 a.m. last night, watching Tom Wisdom in Romanian sci-fi epic, “Fire and Ice.” She nearly burst out laughing at first sight of him with moustache, because he reminded her so much of the young Cary Elwes in “The Princess Bride.” And there was not a single kissing scene between him and his co-star, even though the movie was supposed to be this big fantasy/action/romance thing. And the dragons (one “Fire,” so it was red; the other “Ice,” so it was grey) were absolutely the cheesiest thing self had ever seen since, since — “Jason and the Argonauts”? But, anyhoo, self quite content to see Mr. Wisdom again, and she fell asleep right afterwards, no problemo.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

Went thrift shopping on Saturday after the Starry Kitchen. Today I bought the paint and got to biznass. Check back tomorrow for the big reveal.

It’s been a while again, I know. I had a slight scare with my laptop when my dad was repairing a hinge and some wire got broken somehow. Dad was able to fix the wires, but he says I have to “treat it as if it’s broken.”

Here’s what I’ve been eating…

You can’t really tell, but these are the inside of my leftover burrito from Willy’s. I stuck some Kashi crackers in for dipping.

I tried out the blueberry almond granola Feed sent me.

Loved the flavor of it, but I wish it were a little chewier. The Honey Oikos is one of my favorite flavors so far.

For dinner Thursday night, I made pasta with sautéed sweet potatoes and garlic. I’ve made this before, and it was just as good (or maybe better) this time!

Friday morning I woke up early to go to a middle school for an observation.

On the way, I drove through a cloud.

This was so weird to me, because it was a clear and sunny day, but driving through the cloud it was so dark and dreary.

My lunch today was more pasta with sweet potato. I told my mom how good it was, and she asked me to make it for her.

She also sautéed up some chicken to go with it, and I had a small piece.

With a salad on the side.

Such a delicious meal for a cold day.

I’m so excited for the upcoming week. I only have classes tomorrow, then I’ll head home Tuesday for the Thanksgiving holiday. Can’t wait!!!

Have a great night!

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2009:  Fittings HD

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I’m still awake. Haven’t sleep. God knows how long i’ve been awake.

I’m suppose to focus on my studies, exams.

But tell me something, why i can’t focus, i’m not. I forced myself to read my notes. They just look like words on the monitor, without any meanings.

I question myself what’s wrong/what’s missing…

What happened to the fire that wants to finish my studies…. it seems to be disappearing…

Bel Air, MD is nicely nestled between Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA. 60 miles southbound I hit the nation’s capital. 80 miles northbound I enter the city of brotherly love. It takes roughly 1.5 hours to get to both cities, depending on traffic and how fast I drive.

I may complain a lot about living (again) in the town my dad decided to settle in because his brother was living here back in the late 80s, and somehow never left even though his former job was an hour and a half commute. But its location between DC, Philly, and Baltimore (which is only 30 minutes away) is definitely a perk.

Imagine: 3 cities within your reach. 3 cities with specific histories, reputations, and gentrification. But then I ask myself: where’s home? Am I forever going to find myself on the road between places? Which one can I claim or can I even claim one as my base, my home, as the answer to the question of where are you from? Or am I fated to be nomadic, traveling between yet never living within?

At first, this was going to be a post recapping the 2^nd installment of Family Style Open Mic hosted by Yellow Rage. Tonight’s theme was BRINGING DOWN THE BEAST: Struggle & Resistance, featuring the fierce Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai. But maybe the recap isn’t appropriate at the moment. Maybe this is a kind of recap in itself…

The first thing I did after landing last Saturday was head over to Berkeley to catch up with everybody. I hopped in my rented Hyundai Elantra, took 101N past the beautiful bay (I’d forgotten how amazing it is), and parked right by Unit 2. I called up Michelle, talked to her at Strada, met up with Steph at Peet’s, and got to see Tracy and Dan for just a few minutes before I had to head home to San Jose. I’d forgotten how good it is to sit with somebody who just knows you, where you don’t have to constantly think of things to say, where you’re just catching up and can relax and laugh and reminisce about old times because you actually have old times together.

The first thing I did upon getting back to San Jose was eat a burrito — a real burrito, made by real Mexican people (I’m not being racist here, I’m just saying that Chipotle and Chevy’s are not real Mexican food. Just saying!). I was so absorbed in its goodness that I didn’t even notice they had forgotten to add guacamole and salsa until I was nearly done with it — it was that good, and I was that starved for Mexican food. The following day, I had a cheeseburger and In’n'Out. If I’d only gotten to go to Chez Panisse as well, I could have died happy.

My parents had no idea I had flown back. I stayed at my cousin’s house on Saturday and went to surprise them on Sunday. We really had to wheedle our way into the house because my mom said she had no food for them, didn’t need groceries, etc. etc. Perhaps it’ll reflect badly on my karma that I had to make my cousins lie through their teeth to get in the door, but it was totally worth the shock on my parents’ faces when I jumped into the kitchen. My dad was lying on the floor, my mom was sitting in a chair. When I leaped over my dad and said “Boo!”, his normally stoic face did a double-take and his whole body jerked. I was about to roll around the floor in laughter  but was attacked by my mom, who screamed my name in a pitch that every dog in the neighborhood probably perked up at. I was hesitant about flying out, hesitant about interviewing for the job, hesitant about missing work, but those 30 seconds made it all worth it.

We just spent the afternoon chatting a bit before I had to go to SFO to pick up my aunt, who was arriving from Taiwan. We pulled the same shtick on her; I jumped out of the terminal to give her a scare as we pulled up to the curb. My cousins had to pretend that they were stuck in traffic so she wouldn’t recognize the car, and I just ran up and tapped her on the shoulder. She punched me as soon as she realized I was the one who had given her the scare.

Even though I’m not on the best of terms with my family most of the time, it was still great to see them. I love having fun with people like that. I can’t believe that was all a week ago — it still makes me smile to think about it.

I think that the Palm Pre is one of the best phones that I have used in a very long time, and believe me over the last three years I have used a lot of phones. But the one thing that is frustrating me at the moment is that the GSM model is on version 1.1.3 where as the US version is on version 1.3.1 I mean how bad is that. Apple manage to provide the same update all over the world all at the same time, why can’t Palm?

I can’t see what, apart from the mobile network, is different between the two phones. Come one Palm tell O2 to let the update out.

I took a wee ‘break’ to chch two days before my show opened, probably not the brightest idea because I just ended up worrying the whole time…had fun taking some photies though.

Roses

Dads Strewberries

Bridie

Dad reading about me in the paper

home

I never used to have a problem on planes untill I stayed up one night with Dad and watched Air Crash Investigation…

 
Check it out!

Right now, as you’re reading this, I am navigating the security check-ins, baggage claims, immigration and VEGAN airline food that is required for international travel.

I am GOING HOME! Home to the farm

Home to my family

A place where my soul feels as ease (I am crying writing this)

The biggest thing, is that it has been a year since I was in hospital in Japan, carrying and IV bag from one hospital to another on the 2 hour bullet train in Japan. Smiling through two days of thinking that I was going to die, to the idea of emergency surgery, to cancer, to having my diet and life totally changed. My family hasn’t been directly a part of my illness, because it happened on the way back from my visit. It’s all be through phone calls and e-mails. They’ve been there, through it all.

A whole freaking year of change, progress, and building of myself. I have only been able to reflect upon my life over the past year with the knowledge that my growth is due to my family.

No matter how long I live in Oz…Oregon will always be home.

When do you feel at ‘home’?

~M

16-22 November

It’s been a week of inspiring eco-artiness and inspiration.

Eric Maddern - eco-storyteller

Monday I went to see the fabulous show by Australian storyteller, Eric Maddern, What the Bees Know: Songs and Stories to Sustain and Restore the World – an engaging and galvanising blend of story, poetry, song and environmental awareness raising. I saw a preview of this at the Ecobardic Minifest at Cae Mabon, Eric’s amazing eco-retreat centre in North Wales way back in May, but it was well worth seeing the full show, which had so much more in it. Eric’s charismatic presence filled the Chapel Arts Centre and took the small but committed audience on a 2 hour ‘bee-line’ from the malady to the remedy, honey being a traditional cure-all, and one of the rich gifts these industrious pollinators bestow upon humankind: beeswax, royal jelly, mead, various medicines, and most of all – the pollination of plants. The UK bee population dropped by 30% in 2007 – in Spain, it was 50%, and the USA is experiencing similarly sobering trends. Without these key pollinators, the cycle of life could grind to a halt (25% of the global species depend on plants pollinated by bees). Uber-brainbox Albert Einstein once said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”…Despite the gloomy predictions, Eric’s show left the audience feeling uplifted – the creative act is affirming in itself, and is another example of the remarkable power of the human imagination, with which anything is possible – including solutions to these mounting environmental problems. Homo sapiens may be the problem, but is also the solution – and has proven over the millennia, since it first discovered fire, flint and the paintbrush back in the caves of our ancestors – that it is nothing but ingenius.

There are various good folk offering ‘plan B’, notably The Global Bee Project. We can all do our bit (eg plant bee-friendly flowers in your garden).

Eric is still touring his show – catch it next Spring, or even book it for your venue or group. Next month he’s off to Copenhagen – the place to ‘bee’ for such a committed eco-campaigner. Long may the story-honey flow from his lips.

it's been a long time coming ... Image from Home, words from Eric Maddern

On Saturday I went to the spectacular setting of Bath Abbey to see a film by Earth from the Air visionary, Yann Arthus-Bertrand called Home – deeply beautiful and moving. The Abbey was packed out with nearly a thousand people. It was very forward-thinking for the Abbey to allow this film to be shown. It was an interesting experience – the large screen in front of the altar, the haunting music drifting up into the vaults, hushed reverence, enduring the discomfort of the hard pews … a kind of surrogate religiosity pervaded the film – I would argue a genuine one, based upon awe of Creation, the miracle of this precious and fragile planet we live on. Perhaps if they had more events like this the Church would find its houses filled once more. Many are overwhelmed and despairing at the crisis facing us. Is it time for eco-churches – centres of energy descent, where folk can ‘pray’ not for their own salvation, but the salvation of the planet? The consolation of faith perhaps has its place – life without a spiritual dimension is shallow and ultimately futile – but we have to act now, before it’s too late. A good place to start is the Transition Movement, as mentioned last week. Read about the burgeoning Transition Culture here

In a week of extreme weather ravaging Britain, this seems more poignant than ever.  The flood gates are open.

…

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If you feel like you want the responsiblity of being an Admin, let me know and I’ll give you a probationary trial.

-FuRy

Sin City. Old home. Ghostbar. Transparent floor. CineVegas.