let's fall in love again...

She's Back!!!!!! 

(got to get me one of these!  looks like a stylin' vintage Vespa! :)

Yes, I am finally making an appearance. It has been a whirlwind of activity. I hadn't planned on being away so long, let alone at all. Life has been busy! In good ways! I have been doing small remodeling projects. Re-decorating rooms in my home and prepping for larger remodeling projects that should be taking place soon (fingers crossed). Kids were on break from school. I also traveled to Arizona (my home away from home), and while there, stood up in my best friend's wedding! ... caught a bad cold upon return :( ...It was a very fast and furiously fun trip. We had a fabulous time and because it was short, I am already planning a return trip. I used to live in AZ and though I don't think I would enjoy living there now, it is so great to visit in February and have the most beautiful temps,  in the 70's = perfection! I especially love the nights in AZ.  It's so beautiful to sit outside enjoying a glass of wine hanging out with friends, old and new. We didn't have much downtime due to wedding preparations,  pedicures, hair, shopping, rehearsal dinner, etc. The outdoor wedding turned out so lovely and we managed to escape the forecasted rain. And for additional FUN that night we visited an Irish Pub and listened to a great band...Love the banter that goes on between the band and the audience...so much fun! Felt like I was in the film PS I Love You ~ the only thing missing was Gerard Butler ;) I wanted so badly to get up and dance like they did in Riverdance and Lord of the Dance...but instead you dance with your hands pounding on the table to the beat; very hypnotic! Feels a bit like static dance, definitely groovy :)
I miss the desert already and my best friend!

I also wanted to touch base to thank all of you, my sweet blogger friends  for sending notes and comments wishing me well and wondering where I've gone to. I appreciate your hanging in there during my absence. I miss visiting all of you and hope to do so very soon. Honestly, I am amazed I ever had time to blog before as things have just picked up so much, partly due to the warmer weather. I have sooo many new projects going on and I am very excited for several of them. It's amazing the mental *energy* and *optimism* that spring provides...


sunrise my first morning in AZ...

this was the house they rented for us...I loved the way the sun was touching the clay rooftops in the early morning sun...:) 

these were the best I could do for pics...sooo busy I forgot to pack my usb cord for camera :( so my memory card was full...:( but you get the idea....more pics over at:
G A R A H S T A H 

See You All Soon!!! 

image source: tumblr and all desert pics by Calli

cheers to love...

love 

 

love ...
(the key)

let love rest upon my breast

         my soul

let it nurture my want of you

let if feed upon all that you are

and all that i am 

when i am with you

we are unstoppable

we are !

i am

you are

no two more made for  LOVE

there was a time not long ago
when true love seemed impossible, tainted
but LOVE is always possible

you are here

i am here

we have found what we have both

always wanted,

always  needed 

some things are just meant to be

you are LOVE

happy Valentine's day...

~
Happy Valentine's Day  to all of you!!!!!
Spread the love...

© 
2010
image source: Marion Cottilard (french actress),  key to my heart, 
'Heart on the Mend' a paintng by Calli  - 2006, 
hands, and lolz.ir

purging the way back into love...

Feeling an urging, a purging, a clearing the way (symbolically) just in time for Valentine's Day!!!

How often do we find ourselves - HURT and wondering how in the hell did I let that happen - again?
We let it happen because we trust and as we all know we can trust to the point of being oblivious to the truth. The phrase love is blind coined by Shakespeare,  was/is too true.

But at the same time, love is grand! It is everything! Love is what urges me on each & every day. I am a hopeful romantic. You all know I believe that is the main reason we are here. When I write about love it is usually one extreme to the other and that 'something' in between. That's the way love goes. We can be fiercely, passionately in love or complacent in that love or we can feel a comfort level , a safeness within that love or anything in between.  I love the grand, fiercely passionate kind of love and I think that can be found and still bring about that sense of comfort and safeness. BUT, we do this ourselves;  for ourselves.  IF we're smart we will make sure we feel this in our own lives, in our own hearts before taking on another love. You would think this knowledge could come at an earlier time in ones life? You would think that once this knowledge came the message would stick?...but not always the case because  love is blind or it can be. I think when we are in love all sense goes out the window, if we're not careful.  IT would be so great if we all knew at a very young age  but chances are we live. we love, we eventually learn.  IT doesn't matter so much what someone; a parent or a mentor tries to teach us. We have to experience, plain and simple. But I always try to instill in my children that they themselves create their own happiness and that love can only add to the richness in their lives. I will keep telling them that,  until I finally get it...... ;)

a poem of purging:

feigned emotions
a counterfeit love
designed
a forgery to the heart

for what?
what purpose?
to understand, one must
enter the mind of a womanizer

he puts forth exhaustive efforts
to make women fall ~
and fall they do...

until they crash and burn
(some bitterly)
to the depths of her own hell

until she realizes
that she cannot live his lie  she will not be his conscience

she'll move heaven & earth
to once again

seek her own beautiful truth
~

sweet images... THAT is the way it should feel...and even with the commercialization of the all too dreaded Valentine's Day...I still believe in LOVEbut if love  lets me down again...
you can find me here....;)

©
2010
image source: veza1_largenbsp; tumblr images and
Cowgirl_in_Heaven+thestoeckleincollection


and a quote I really like: make that love! 

by Howard Zinn

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

new paintings to be found at...

G A R A H S T A H

hope you'll visit me there ...

and to all of you who stopped by 

and commented so generously on my interview with Cynthia of:

http://poemflesh2.blogspot.com/

thank you so much...

POEMFLESH2: DIALOGUE - an interview...

Hi Everyone! …I would love for

you to visit my dear friend and fellow blogger Cynthia of POEMFLESH2: DIALOGUE.  Cynthia asked if I would like to be a part of her new blog format and partake in an interview about my art and poetry. Obviously, I was thrilled to do so and it was so enjoyable.  Plus it gives me the opportunity to lighten things up a bit around here and engage in some shameless and tawdry self-promotion ;) ...LOL

And, it goes without saying, I really love her poetry …Please visit her, check out our dialogue and move slowly back through her pages for her intelligent, intriguing, sensual and captivating work. 

Many of you already know her but for those who do not, just know you will be delighted.

Thank you all...
And Thank you so much, Cynthia! See you there...
http://poemflesh2.blogspot.com/

She is on one side of Truth, He on the other...

discontent swallows whole

ALL those things once held dear

discontent

and a heavy heart

wavering…

a tug of war

between empowering thoughts

and the fall of tears

discontent

makes time stand still

as restless longing

turns to need

for sleep

for a rainy day

for the trail of tears

to be kissed away and made right

by the one who inflicted the wrongs

but what she really needs

is to find peace

in the knowing

that the only thing REAL are her tears

and those things she held dear

sadly ~ were not

She is on one side of Truth and He on the other…

 ©

2010

 image source: woman_crying_1jpg

in the midst of...

dark introspection
leading to the ultimate

~ of joyous release




©
2010

image source: 842739767_f5b780519c
* thank you all for your sweet wishes during the holidays and since. I hope you all experienced the best of holiday seasons! I am still on somewhat of a break and apologize for not having visited... I hadn't realized that
this break was so needed until I was in the midst of it.

but I will be back soon and miss all of you, and your posts.
thank you! 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year all...see you soon!

I want to wish you all a joyous, love-filled, healthy holiday season and New Year. You have all been a huge part of my world, this past year. I had re-surfaced with this blog and it has been a great outlet for creativity and
self-expression. Your feedback has always been supportive and loving. I love this community and how we back each other up and share, and I have met so many kindred-spirits. That is what blogging is all about. It is a wonderfully supportive place to be. Thank you all!  ~ I wrote this and more originally knowing that I was planning on taking a break between Xmas and New Year's. I want to spend time with my kids while they are on winter break and want to recharge, renew and otherwise work on special projects, gearing up for the new year...then ...life happensI had prepared this post early this morning and it took me all day to get it posted, as my children have caught a stomach virus and have been ill for hours now. I am praying I am able to escape it as Moms can't get sick when needing to take care of their kids.  f i n g e r s   c r o s s e d ...

I had hoped to make my rounds to all of your blogs and return emails but it seems I may not be able to before the holiday. Please know I send you the very best of wishes for a perfect holiday! 

Merry Christmas! ~ Happy New Year!
much love & peace

~ 

See you soon!

image source: see you soon by rick blackwell

i dream a dream...

we all have a dream or dreams. one ofmine is to be able to ice skate
like a graceful, flowing, lovely, athletic ~ figure skater. i want for that ease of
movement. i want to feel the cool air on my face as i twirl in
enormous circle eights; designed by my skates and felt with my heart.
i have not skated since i was young and
want to so badly. I used to rollerblade and loved it but
injuries have made that a current thing of the past. i cross-country
ski'd and fell on my ass more times than i can count, but i had a damn good time trying.
and it should be of no surprise when i say that figure skating
is one of my favourite events in the Olympics. love to watch
the fluid movement of these ice dancers! much like ballet, so free flowing
and beautiful. just amazing! sometimes, so beautiful, it can reduce me to tears.

i suppose i think of this, when i hear,
Joni Mitchell's ~ 'River' ...a song i listen to often.

as noted by my sidebar ;)

Its meaning sad and melancholy, about losing a lover, but i love the song, music and lyrics. what's not to love,  it's soulful and sung by Joni Mitchell or even Sarah Mclachlan, just beautiful. a song that has always tugged at my
Christmastime heartstrings. and the image of ice skating
just takes me to another place and time when life was simpler, innocent or so i imagine.
eras past where skating was a loved and treasured pastime. a place for a promising date.
a time when families did something 'together'... it just stirs up so many emotions
and feelings. God, how i love this time of year. a time of endings and yet a time of
new beginnings.

Happy Christmas, all...with love

~ Gelukkige Kerstmis ~ Glückliches Weihnachten ~ 

 Noël heureux ~ Feliz Navidad ~ Natale felice ~ Natal feliz

image source: photo 1: tumblr++recklesslyming
photo 2: cestnouveautumblr
photo 3: not-long-now+-15-days

monastery of soul ...

cloistered in semi-darknessa monastery of soul greyness cold, alone
writhing in wait for days to once again
advance the light
as the deficit defeats the senses
stymies the voice,
inhibits the muse,
ensures dormancy

the need to restore compells inner action
to renew
invigorate the senses
there is no wish to wait for Springthough this rest is fiercely determinedwhile it seemingly inflicts with no remorse
quietlysecretlysomething seeps inmaking provisionsto enhance strengthto garner power
for times to come
...in love
...in hope...in uprooting an inert existence

a quickening
a  pulse
palpitations indicating
the wake up call to  LIVE LIFE
and yet
life has forced this breathing space
this adjournment in part, a design on the future?
stirring devotion from deep within
to make love, make life, make sense of all this -- all this that came before NOW

a respite
before the reckoning
a relinquishing of control
 a forcing of hands a leveling of spirit
waist deep

a cleansing

a purifying to gain
a readying for ...wisdom brought forthvia a Master Plan to cultivate
the ESSENCE of LIFE

© 2009
image source: 11_12_2008 iris_brosch

this you are...this you were...

you entered my life at a time
when things were just beginning to move...
stagnant times were had
then suddenly just before you arrived
my soul started to sway, dance, flutter

I knew of your arrival before
you stepped into my world
the veil pulled back
in recognition of youin recognition of me
life was sometimes sad, oppressive
yet I released myself
from that sadness
oppression
some of it
pulled back violently
a veil that could not withstand the test of time.

I'd spent so much time making headway
into a happier place
a happier timeyears
then you came
i smiled
i knew i was in for something tangible
beautiful
loving
mutual

your vibe,
aura,
soul
was felt,
noticedlong before I laid eyes on you.

i,  backed into a corner
for quite sometime
knew that was not the place for me*(nobody puts Baby in the corner! :)  
i have let my creative self-shineeven more
with your aid
because you've given
and given much to inspire,
  youbrought joy

all these things
that make up who we are
who i am
who you are

these are good things
these are great things
these are beautiful and we are so lucky
to have our friendship
our love
our bond
it is a bond
a bond
that is glued together
with light and love and peace
and a creative melding

such similarity between us
we knew of from the start
we loved that from the start
we love it still...

i love how we grow into
something more
more substantial
each day
each new way

i love you my friend! I do!

©2009*had to put that in  -for Patrick Swayze  (RIP)**written for a friend some time ago...
image source: Friends_Forever_by_vizionsphotography

A NEW WIP and lots of XMAS Photos...please go see!  G A R A H S T A H