This Saturday will be the 20th year for the national Letter Carriers Food Drive. Our local food donations will go to Food Finders Food Bank. Hopefully, this weekend will add to the supplies at food banks all over the United States to help feed the hungry.

We received our food drive bag in the mail, did you? Of course, we can add as many bags or boxes of food as we want. Our mail service is making it so easy to donate to a good cause. We are filling our bags ahead of time so we will be ready before Saturday – and encourage you to do the same. Together we can make a difference! Read more about the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. They even supply logos and video to help pass the word along.

My current vacation days were prompted by my older son being sent from Germany to Texas for Air Force training and my younger son offering to drive me from Indiana to see him.  Now I am in Texas spending time with both of my adult kids.

I have to admit that one of the major perks of my work from home job is the vacation day “request” process that I do NOT go through. I have to plan around appointments and responsibilities, but there is nobody to approve or deny my days off even though this trip was planned on very short notice.

Of course, this road trip interrupts my income. That would be the big vacation drawback of working from home. Not home? No pay. I am now in the process of putting my listings back online so customers can buy items for Monday shipment. A few late night hours spent in my hotel room with my laptop and then I am back to vacation mode until Monday. There will be extra work to do when I return to my office, but as I recall – that is the way it is for other jobs, too.

For now I am enjoying 90 degree weather in April and there is no packing tape in site!

I am 50 years old, but a kid at heart. If you are my age then you probably understand – those of you that are younger will learn in time that we never really get over our youth, we just carry it with us as we age. Sometimes old “stuff” causes us to remember extra fond memories of years gone by. Like this old owl does for me. 

I recently told my sister that I had been looking for a weather owl for years. My grandparents had one that I remember in vivid detail. I have searched online, in antique shops, at yard sales, etc. My interest would be renewed each time that I would see a group of owls that a collector was selling. I described this owl to many people, only to be met with blank stares. A weather owl? That changed colors? Hmmm.

I found this one on eBay. I had looked in the past, but this time luck was on my side. There is no way for the seller to really understand just how special this purchase was for me.

I remember as a kid being fascinated as the breast feathers would change colors to blue or purple or pink depending on the weather. This one no longer changes colors and he is scuffed and worn with age…much like myself. Yet, wrapped up in this little owl and his tiny thermometer are memories of going to my grandparents house. He has been like a time machine, taking me back to memories of my grandparents. Of grandma fixing food in the kitchen and grandpa giving motorcycle rides around the block and all the great times we all had together. Has it really been decades?

Have you found any childhood memory treasures lately? I hope so!

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On a personal note…my father’s funeral was a week ago today. I have attended funerals before, but burying my father has altered my outlook on life. My own mortality and that of everyone I love is now seems more fragile.

On one hand it does not seem right to be concerned with everyday responsibilities, yet the distraction is also helpful in the healing process. We still have business to attend to, bills to pay, and household chores regardless of how we feel.

I suggest that we all be more patient with those we meet  as we go about our daily schedules. We have no way of knowing who is hurting and just going through the motions today because they have errands to run or paychecks to earn. May God bless all of us.

A recent candle fire has made an impression on me, so I want to pass along a safety tip.

I saw a jar candle actually burst into flames while visiting in someone’s home over the weekend. The fire became large enough to do some minor damage to other items in the seconds that it took for me to cross the room. Luckily, no major damage was done and nobody was hurt.

The cause was a mystery until I picked up the blackened jar after it cooled. There were about two dozen matches in the bottom.  Mystery solved. The matches were used to light the candle each time it was used, then dropped inside. They accumulated in the bottom as the wax burned down. When the wax got low the flames ignited the matches…and an unbelievably large flame was created. The jar became hot enough to melt a hole through the place mat underneath and scorch papers that were not in direct contact.

Please, never drop your matches into jar candles. Those little bits of paper add up and become kindling – not something you want in your home decor. Stay safe!

We all have our soft spots, don’t we? No matter how much we bargain shop or how tight our budgets are, there are things we buy just because they remind us of our children.  Those of you with young kids take heed. It does not change just because they grow up and you grow old.

Once in a while something, like this deck of old cards, catches my eye and tugs at my heart-strings. They are worn and a little dirty. I didn’t even know if they were all in the box when I bought them. My son is in the Air Force so here I sit with a $6 box of playing cards. They will go nicely with my other vintage toys, many of which are police or Air Force themed because of my sons.

I know I am not the only one that shops this way. What have you collected with your kids in mind?

I have been easing into the Christmas shopping season.

I skipped Black Friday. Yes, I missed it entirely. I realize that I missed some great deals, but I zoned out when my newspaper weighed as much as a sack of potatoes. Is it possible to have advertisement overload? I didn’t even read the store ads…though I did read the Saturday newspaper articles about other shoppers.

My husband and I are attempting to make our holiday shopping stress-free. So far it is working just fine to prioritize and shop with a plan. There are sales every week, both online and in stores, so if we miss one special sale there will be another.

I hope everyone gets what they want for Christmas…but I am taking hot chocolate breaks while I shop for it!

One of the best things about our recent vacation trip to Germany was spending our grandson’s 5th birthday with him. We missed birthdays 1 through 4, so this celebration was extra special.

It was cute that he picked a grown up restaurant for his birthday dinner. There were no games or dancing bears or prizes, just tables, chairs, menus, and a salad bar. Parker made up his mind weeks in advance. He wanted to go to Big Emma’s and eat Schnitzel. (He ate an impossible amount and then ate more. He definitely enjoyed their food!)

They brought a HUGE mixing size bowl of ice cream to the table to help us celebrate. Parker soon had a slight brain freeze and the shivers, then began hamming it up for us. It was SO much fun!

My husband took this photograph at the Feast of the Hunter’s Moon.  Many of the handmade crafts and homemade cooking at the gathering made me think of my childhood, but none of them touched my heart as much as this bread dough.  I remember my mother making homemade rolls. Sometimes she let me brush sweetened milk on top of the hot bread when she took it out of the oven.  I also remember my grandmother rolling out pie dough, then helping me make “rolly doughs” with the leftover dough scraps that she trimmed from her hand fluted pie shells.

Most of my time at the feast was thought provoking in a nostalgic sort of way.  Even the smell of rabbit stew and cobs of corn grilled over open fires made me daydream of years long gone.  It was encouraging to be reminded of simpler more difficult times.  Of course, in those childhood memories I was NOT the one doing the work.

I enjoyed the day. It was also nice to come home to modern conveniences.  Unlike the women of the past that had no easier way to make bread, I can take a trip down memory lane and then put my feet up while the dough boy does the work.