Haiku Friday - Volume 3

Eagerly she waits
in the kitchen as I stir
upstairs in my bed.

Listening with hopes
that I will be coming down
soon to let her out.

Sitting by the door
as I turn Dell laptop on
whimper of delight.

Into the backyard
Molly sniffs to see who has
trespassed in the night.

When she's satisfied
everything is as it should
be ... she pees and poops.

Waiting for her treat
as I put the coffee on,
watching every move.

Breakfast in the bowl
wolfing down her kibble meal
tummy happy now.

Curled at my feet
on her pillow bed so soft,
Thus the day begins.

A (not so subtle) reminder:
Earlier this week, I extended an open invitation (or "challenge" if you will) to bloggers to participate voluntarily in a Hybrid Email Meme and tag (or encourage) others to do likewise. My example is here, and Sherck's (who took me up right away rather than wait for Friday which is fine with me) is here. If (or when) YOU decide to play along, please leave links so we can find and enjoy yours.

Volume #4 is at Sacred Ruminations


Thought for the Day

"All kids are gifted.
Some just open their packages
earlier than others."
Michael Carr

Thursday Thirteen #7 - Music I Enjoy

Eleven Different Straight No Chaser Links
(plus two favorites from last time)

If you missed my 5th T-13 about this group, SNC is an all male a'capella group that creates & shares unique performances. Prepare to be entertained! For slow or choppy online videos, try the tips from Melissa shared previously here.

1. World's Apart - performed by the original group

2. Teen Sensation Medley - also performed by the original group with some funky choreography at their final concert in 1999

3. Straight No Chaser Original Theme Song

4. It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday

5. I'm Coming Home

6. SNC performs This Love

7. Back Home Again in Indiana

8. Silent Night - (with my apologies for missing this one at Christmas time)

9. The Lion Sleeps Tonight

10. Sitcom Medley 2

11. I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Back by popular demand :)

12. Allentown

13. Hi-De-Ho - the original 1996 group

However,
12 Days of Christmas
remains my personal favorite
even out of season.

If you missed it and want more, check out my original Straight No Chaser Thursday Thirteen #5. It's been edited a bit so the glitches should be corrected this time around.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

For easy access, I’ve listed more T-13 links along with the Thursday Thirteen Blogroll to the bottom of my sidebar.

(Anything but ...) Wordless Wednesday #2 (with follow-up about Blog365 Megafeed)

My Home Workspace
(although today I must confess, paper is stacked everywhere)

(Note: one of Molly's many pillow-beds
on floor at left along with several chew toys)

Actually this is Wordless Wednesday #3
since I posted #2 at Sacred Ruminations last week.

Follow up re: Blog 365 MegaFeed
Tuesday morning, I emailed Kamen with the questions I posted a couple of days ago here.

My query reads as follows:
Kamen
Thanks again for getting the whole Blog365 challenge started. It promises to be good fun. I've found a few new blogs already I might never have discovered and am grateful for these connections. I do have a question about the MegaFeed (more out of curiosity than anything else) and I posted the following yesterday at Small Reflections, but (alas) it didn't show up in the Blog 365 "Feed", so I received minimal response. I do, however, remain curious and I remembered I have your email address. Here's what I posted:

I'm trying to understand how this Blog 365 MegaFeed works. From personal observation, I'm assuming it must be a random generator of some kind that gathers new posts periodically, but not in any orderly way. Sometimes there are 150 new posts ... other times 35 or so. I don't think there have been any where near 900 each day (though I could be wrong ... it certainly wouldn't be the 1st time I've made mistakes in public). Although I've posted on both of my blogs daily thus far, only one of those 12 posts has appeared in the MegaFeed. So ... is that what's happening to everyone? Please don't misunderstand. This is not a complaint. I'm just curious because I like to understand how things work.

FYI - This is the link to the actual blog page:
http://smallreflections.blogspot.com/2008/01/re-blog-365-megafeed-question-from.html

I realize you must be much busier than me (since I'm happily retired), but when time permits, I would appreciate a response. I'm also wondering whether or not my second blog got added as I requested.
Sincerely,

Kamen responded quickly as follows:
Your post you linked to did show up, but it might have shown up further down the list than expected.

http://blog365.kamenlee.com/?s=small+reflections

I am still trying to tweak things to make things populate in a better way, so I am hopeful that changes are on the way. Currently I manually add feeds that have been submitted by Blog365 members. The MegaFeed site is setup to “poll” the feeds for changes and add them as posts. There are some inherent issues with this kind of system, mainly having to do with times and dates, that seem to be keeping some posts near the top and sticking other posts further down the list. Currently I have over 300 feeds being polled, so most posts roll through the front page somewhat quickly.

As far as your second feed goes, send it to me and if it hasn’t already been added, I will add it for you.

Thanks for the query and for joining!
-Kamen

After clicking on the link he provided and re-examining the entire Megafeed list in my Google Reader, I wrote and emailed the following to Kamen as feedback:
Thanks for your prompt reply. I've done some checking of my Google Reader MegaFeed and just one of my posts shows. Yes, I checked every page. Maybe after checking out the sites I've starred to come back to in the MegaFeed I'll try unsubscribing and resubscribing to see it that makes a difference.

I'm in awe of what you're doing with all of this and don't begin to understand much on the technical side. I do have some appreciation for the time and effort you've put into doing this. I'm glad to know others might be seeing my posts in their readers.

A question about the link you provided to Small Reflections. I apologize, but I am a curious critter by nature. The 1st and 3rd links are mine. The 2nd and 4th links are to Sandy at Momisodes, a blogging friend of mine. The one link that DOES show up in MY reader doesn't show up on YOUR list and I have posted daily on each blog all along... so 2 of 7 posts are accounted for at Small Reflections. Nothing here shows up in my reader (on the MegaFeed) and that 's intriguing. I could provide links, but I sense I have more free time than you and don't wish to add to your workload. Is there a way for us to check for ourselves?

My other blog feed is:
feeds.feedburner.com/Sacredruminations

I do appreciate your patience and promise not to bug you continually, but perhaps feedback of this kind may help you resolve the issues at some point.
Thanks,

On checking the MegaFeed this morning, I discovered the following:
Yesterday's Small Reflections post DOES appear in the list. So does Eve's response to the three quizzes I posted at Sacred Ruminations yesterday. So ... that's what I know about the way the Blog 365 MegaFeed works. I'm impressed with the time and effort Kamen has invested in initiating, publicizing and following through with this blogging challenge. I've encountered a few new blogs I enjoy and picked up a few new readers (and perhaps lurkers) here. Thus far, the challenge has created no stress for me ... but Sandy (who's responsible for my participation in this blogging madness) had a "moment" yesterday until her daughter came up with a simple solution.

This is (quite possibly) more information than any of you wanted about any of this, but anyone who knows me will tell you .... I'm not only curious, I'm incredibly thorough and determined once my interest is tweaked. Hopefully the Wordless Wednesday folks enjoyed the photo and ignored the rest.

One additional note on a totally different subject:
Sherck is the first to take up the Hybrid Haiku Chain Email Meme Challenge, choosing to post yesterday rather than wait for Friday. You can read his excellent response here.

Thought for today:

"Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind." Marva Collins

Who else is a Pisces out there?

Yes, I'm a Pisces ... (actually on the cusp) ... born February 23rd when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Although I subscribed to the Daily OM when I first started blogging, I seldom read my Horoscope or the Daily Message because there's just too much of interest out there in this virtual world and not enough hours in the day. However, after spending considerable time responding to comments on each of my blogs (and let me add thank you very much to those who take the time to write) and emails, I rushed upstairs to shower and dress because I'm meeting a friend for breakfast this morning around 9:30. She's having some medical tests done first, so the time frame isn't fixed. So it happened that (upon returning downstairs as I sat down at the computer) I saw the following.


January 8, 2008
Structured Enthusiasm
Pisces Daily Horoscope

You may feel energized and enthusiastic about your activities today. You may feel a new sense of motivation about your goals, or you could come up with an exciting new direction for a current project. While strong enthusiasm may help you quickly move your projects forward, you may also wish to give some thought to getting organized today so you can move ahead efficiently. Simply take some time to review your plans in detail, and see if there are ways to improve your productivity or streamline your efforts. It may be helpful to make a list of the tasks you want to accomplish and any action steps that will help you reach your goals. Then you can map out a clear progression of actions that will help you bring your goals into being.

With an organized plan of action, we lend structure to our enthusiasm and enhance our ability to manifest our dreams in reality. We often let our enthusiasm take the lead, which can result in hasty or ineffective actions. If we instead take time to review our goals and devise more efficient plans, we can improve our productivity and lessen the amount of time and effort we must devote to manifesting our dreams. With an organized plan and an optimistic mind-set, we can accomplish more than we believed possible and achieve our goals with ease. By taking time to get organized with your plans today, you will have a clear blueprint for success and can let your enthusiasm fuel your desire to excel.

Apparently, I'm supposed to add "structure" to organize my enthusiasm. I've avoided "resolutions" entirely for years ... decades even, and once I retired from teaching in June of 2001 ... I released my long-practiced over-developed obsessive need to plan at all. Instead, I've opted to take life as it comes ... enjoying each moment for whatever it brings ... rowing, no drifting, "merrily down the stream" just as I once did as a child. I'm happier, healthier, and (according to friends and family) more relaxed, calm, and fun to be around. Therefore, I think I'll continue as is ... at least for today.

Re: Blog 365 Megafeed (a question from the peanut gallery), Other Updates for Regular Readers, an Invitation and Apology

I'm trying to understand how this Blog 365 Megafeed works. From personal observation, I'm assuming it must be a random generator of some kind that gathers new posts periodically, but not in any orderly way. Sometimes there are 150 new posts ... other times 35 or so. I don't think there have been any where near 900 each day (though I could be wrong ... it certainly wouldn't be the 1st time I've made mistakes in public). Although I've posted on both of my blogs daily thus far, only one of those 12 posts has appeared in the Megafeed. So ... is that what's happening to everyone? Please don't misunderstand. This is not a complaint. I'm just curious because I like to understand how things work.

For those who wondered, the lovely rose I shared on Saturday, (sadly) looked like this late yesterday afternoon. In the background however, the two buds seemed to have survived unscathed ...


so (depending on how severe the next storm is), I may have some new roses soon.

Happily, the Creative Everyday Challenge logo (that I recreated the code for last night after it mysteriously disappeared from my sidebar of both blogs) now contains the "clickable link" I hoped for initially, and hopefully will remain in place. If anyone would like the code, I can send it to you in email, but I have no idea how to share it in comments or a post since it's an executable file.

Smiler assured me she's working on a "fix" for the Blogging 101 button. I'll keep you posted, but in the meantime you can click on the bottom in my previous post to find those posts. I understand she's learned some new things about HTML herself and is in the process of revising those previous posts.

I'm hoping some of you will "tag yourselves" for the Haiku Friday/Chain email Meme Hybrid I created and posted recently. I'd love to see what others do with this. If you post on Friday , January 11th, you have 5 days to think about it and play with possibilities (4 days and several hours longer than me). If you DO play, please link back here at Small Reflections so I can visit. Hmmm ... I'm realizing I should post the meme as I received it, then add modified rules (suggestions), but if I go to all that trouble, I'm going to want to TAG people ... so maybe I should leave well enough alone. Ohmygosh ... I'm so embarrassed! I just realized I neglected to provide LINK-LOVE in that earlier post, and I want to apologize to Sandy of Momisodes and make reparations here by adding links to the meme itself and her blog in general. I'll let you track it back to Sarcastic Mom and Rhonda (who I don't know) if you wish to know it's origins, but I'll also fix the error in the previous post when I finish here.

The 5 meme questions were:
1. How long have you been blogging?
2. What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?
3. Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?
4. What 3 things do you love about being online?
5. What are 3 things you struggle with online?

My challenge to you
is to answer in Haiku
(for a change of pace).

I you need a "refresher" on the 5-7-5 syllable form, click Haiku Friday or on HF logo in my sidebar. If you decide to put your post off for a week or two, visit some of the bloggers who write Haiku weekly for inspiration as you mull it over and play. It's all fun ... no pressure! Just remember to link to this post or my example so I can read it.

Sigh! I know there were a couple of other topics I intended to cover when I started, but they can wait. Molly wants to play and then take a walk. I suspect she's hoping for a romp at Dog Beach, but it's a bit chilly and rain is expected ... sot that's not likely.

Strange Happenings this Weekend, but a I'm Sharing a Little Link-Love Anyway

I don't know what's going on with these two "logos" from my sidebar. I planned to write about each of them (along with the Haiku Friday one) last night when my sister called. Smiler created the first and provided the code at her blog to let people know of the information she's been sharing there about HTML code. I've learned much of what I know from her and Melissa at Part of Everything.

Clicking on THIS button WILL take you to the section of her blog where these posts can be found, but the code she provided doesn't seem to work in my sidebar yet, so I've removed it for now. She's working on a "fix" and hopefully I'll be able to add it again soon. Currently there are 7 "lessons" ... the first was posted December 15th, with others added periodically. She doesn't claim to be an expert, but I've found the information shared there useful.

For those of you participating in Blog 365, she's created several logos you might enjoy adding to your sidebar if you want something unique. You can find them here.

I added this Creative Everyday logo to my sidebar (without a link) a week or more ago when I learned of this challenge initially. Yesterday I figured out a "cheat" on my own to add a "clickable" link underneath it after trying unsuccessfully to make the logo itself clickable. It was there yesterday at the top of my sidebar.

It was there this morning, but at some point today it vanished. Yes, somehow the logo has disappeared mysteriously, although the title above and link underneath remain. I'm reminded of the 3-day period when my SiteMeter icons disappeared, then reappeared just as mysteriously. Hopefully that will happen again. For now, if you'd like to check this out and join in the creative fun, you CAN click on THIS link and read all about it at the source.

Finally, if you need a laugh ... check out this hilarious post at The Joy of Six. I found it this morning and have been chuckling all day. While you're there, look around because she's got others just as entertaining.

8.:50pm - I'm happy to add this note of personal success. I redid the whole thing from scratch, deleted yesterday's code from the widget, inserted the new code and not only did it reappear, it's CLICKABLE and takes you to the Creative Everyday site the way I wanted it to. So ... I'm a tired (but happy) blogger! I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I solved this problem, but now I'm turning off the computer.

Simply Saturday

The day has gotten away from me, and (as luck would have it) my sister called from Americus, Georgia (somewhere near Plains I believe) just as I sat down to write this post tonight. She had stories to share of frustrating experiences on the road these past few days. The ideas I had in mind when I sat down here have vanished after chatting for 75 minutes or so.

I think I'll save whatever it was I intended to share for another day when I'm less tired (or more inspired). Molly is ready for some indoor fetch (since it's cold, rainy and dark outside) followed by cuddles in my lap before I head upstairs.

I did track down the gal who started Haiku Friday today and have added a link to the logo in both of yesterday's posts and the one in my sidebar. She also has a Mr. Linky on her Blog, so it's easy to find others who participate. If you're interested in joining the fun, check it out .

This lovely rose
is blooming in my front yard
along with three others and two buds.

.
I'm hopeful they will
survive the windy rainy weather
we're experiencing here in Southern California.

Haiku Friday - Volume 1

Sandy's Chain Email Meme in Poetry

Easily I'm bored.
Never one to follow rules,
I make up my own.

1. How long have you been blogging?

Posting twice a day
I started late October,
Learning as I go.

Playing all the time.
Eleven weeks next Monday
Happy, yes I am!

2. What inspired you to start a blog
and who are your mentors?

Writing all my life
generating poetry

Seldom did I share.

Kara showed me how
sending links to start me off.
Now I'm on my own.

Others out there help.
Smiler, Melissa too,
HTML code.

3. Are you trying to earn money online,
or do you blog just for fun?

Cash is not my goal.
Learning motivates enough.
Doing as I choose.

Karen blogs now too.
We met in New Mexico,
Taos Writers Spa.

Grandy, Mama Zen,
Peajay, Joy, and Talking Bear
His Girl Friday, Eve,

MPJ, the Dream,
Mother of Invention too
Keep me on my game.

NaBloPoMo done
Sandy, Blog 365
Says we will have fun!

4. What 3 things do you love about being online?

Learning how to put
pictures in my sidebar and
posts is very cool.

When I cannot sleep,
logging on connects me to
interesting things.

Making online friends
while my sister's on the road
traveling two years.

5. What 3 things do you struggle with?

Spending too much time.
Friends are missing company.
Molly wants to play.

I obsess too much
Doing things compulsively
Why can't I relax?

Balancing my blogs
Deciding which to write first
Running out of time.


Now who shall I tag?
Anyone who wants to play.
I shall not decide.

Haiku Friday Volume 2 is at Sacred Ruminations

Directory of Links to my T-13s

My Thursday Thirteen Posts to Date

1. Authors and Books to Share with Young Children
2. Things I'd Do If I Knew I Couldn't Fail
3. Thoughts About Ice
4. Quotes to Consider (Set 1)
5. Music I Enjoy - Straight No Chaser Links (Set 1)
6. Laws that Change Lives (Dan Millman)
7. Straight No Chaser Links (Set 2)
8. Books for Kids of All Ages by Bill Peet
9. Federer's Wins
10. Quotes to Consider (Set 2)
11. Healing Affirmations from Louise Hay
12. Healing Beliefs of Louise Hay
13. Wordless - Amazing Origami
14. Oronyms
15. Wordless - Moms & Babies
16. Unusual Names
17. Tennis Champions - Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, CA
18. (Wordless) Adorable Puppies
19. Colorful Spring Flowers
20. Imaginative Masterpieces
    
21. 2nd Photobucket Meme
22. Modified Meme of Fours (part 2)
23. What are we thinking?
24. 1st Photoshop Elements Class Topics
25. Circular Images
26. Laughable Animal Photos
27. French Open 'Quarter Final' Collaged Photos
28. Beautiful Nature Pix
29. Springtime Butterflies
30. Cute Critter Photos
31. Really Good Things
32. Seeking 'Slogan' Suggestions
33. Photos of Hawaii
34. Nature Photos
35. Random Thoughts on Blogging
36. Thoughts on grief ... and letting go
37. Musings of my Mind the Morning (mostly about the Beijing Olympics)
38. Photographs of Horses

10-6-08 Addendum:
There are more T-13s of course ... (as of October 2nd there are 42 as a matter of fact), but since I keep forgetting to update this page, from here on out simply click the 'Thursday Thirteen' label to find the rest ... and forgive me please ;--)

Thought for Today
"Go forth into the busy world and love it. Interest yourself in its life, mingle kindly with its joys and sorrows." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday Thirteen #6

13 (plus 4 more) Laws That Change Lives
as suggested by Dan Millman in
THE LIFE YOU WERE BORN TO LIVE

1. The Law of Flexibility - "Flexibility avails us far more than either passivity or resistance; by actively using whatever arises, embracing even the most painful circumstances, we deal with our difficulties more effectively, as we begin to see them as a form of spiritual training." (pg. 324)
   
2. The Law of Choices - "The most basic choice we have in life is whether to expand or contract, whether to bring our creative and expressive energies out into the world in positive or negative ways. No matter what our circumstances, we have the power to choose our directions." (pg. 328)
   
3. The Law of Responsibility - "Once we establish the limits and boundaries of our responsibility, we can take full charge of that which is our duty and let go of that which is not; in doing so, we find more enjoyment supporting others, as we create more harmonious cooperative relationships." (pg. 336)
   
4. The Law of Balance - Balance applies to us on cosmic, biological, and personal levels -- to our body, mind, and emotions -- reminding us that anything we do, we can overdo or underdo, and that if our internal pendulum swings to one side, it will inevitably swing to the other." (pg. 341)
   
5. The Law of Process - "On the path to our goals if we want to get from point A to a point Z, the surest way to get there is to first go to point B, then C, then D, and so on. Skipping a single step, even though it appears to be a shortcut, often results in failure." (pg. 346)
   
6. The Law of Patterns - "Any habit or pattern, whether we call it 'good' or 'bad,' despite our best intentions tends to reassert itself over time unless we break that pattern by doing something different." (pg. 349)
   
7. The Law of Discipline -"Discipline is the surest means to greater freedom and independence; it provides the focus to achieve the skill level and depth of knowledge that translates into more options in life." (pg. 354)
   
8. The Law of Perfection -"From a transcendental perspective, everyone and everything is unconditionally perfect; from a conventional viewpoint, perfection doesn't exist -- excellence is the best we can achieve, and achieving it takes time and practice." (pg. 358)
   
9. The Law of the Present Moment - "Time doesn't exist; what we refer to as 'past' and 'future' have no reality except in our own mental constructs. The idea of time is a convention of thought and language, a social agreement; in truth, we only have this moment." (362)
   
10. The Law of No Judgments - "The Universal Spirit does not judge us; judgments are human inventions, a means to compare, contrast, and control as we judge ourselves against artificial, and often idealistic, standards of perfect, morality, or truth." (pg. 365)
    
11. The Law of Faith ... "is founded upon the recognition that we know more than we have read, heard, or studied; we know more because we are more; we have a direct link to universal wisdom; we have only to look, listen, and trust." (pg. 369)
    
12. The Law of Expectations - "Energy follows thought; we move toward but not beyond what we can imagine. What we assume, expect, or believe colors and creates our experiences; by changing our expectation, we change our experience of every aspect of life." (373)
    
13. The Law of Honesty - "Recognizing, accepting, and expressing our authentic interior reality lies at the heart of honesty; only when we are honest with ourselves can we speak or act honestly with anyone else. In the sense of integrity, honesty entails acting in line with higher laws in favor of negative impulses to the contrary." (pg. 377)
    
14. The Law of Higher Will - "From the viewpoint of our separate self and smaller will, it's normal to act on the basis of our own desires and preferences; when we surrender our smaller self and will to the guidance of a higher will and dedicate our actions for the highest good of all concerned, we feel an inspired glow at the center of our life." (pg. 381)
    
15. The Law of Intuition - "We can only get in touch with our own source of intuition and wisdom when we no longer depend upon others' opinions for our sense of identity or worth; we all tend to worship something; the question is, will we worship the god of opinion, or the god of our heart?" (pg. 385)
    
16. The Law of Action - "No matter what we feel or know, no matter what our potential gifts or talents, only action brings them to life. Those of us who only think we understand concepts, such as commitment, courage, and love, one day discover than we only know when we act; doing becomes understanding." (pg. 390)
    
17. The Law of Cycles - "The world of nature exists within a larger pattern of cycles, such as day and night and the passing of the seasons. The seasons do nor push one another; neither do clouds race the wind across the sky; all things happen in good time; everything has a time to rise, and a time to fall. Whatever rises, falls, and whatever falls shall rise again; that is the principle of cycles." (pg. 394)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

For easy access, I’ve listed more T-13 links along with the Thursday Thirteen Blogroll to the bottom of my sidebar.

Wordless Wednesday #1

Walking to the Post Office on December 24th with Molly

to mail my Christmas Cards finally
(just a bit later than I'd hoped)

Returning home I was surprised to see

this full moon in the West above the rooftops

with the bright sun in the East to my back

I captured this sight to share,
(a full moon in daylight).

I've had enough words the past few days reviewing my blogging progress, and thanking my blogging buddies, and deciding to join Blog 365. If you've not had too many words today, read on. If you're a regular, snag (or snarf) yourself a thank you graphic from Molly, Ms. Kitty, and Me (or not) as you choose. I've created a 2nd Wordless Wednesday at my other blog, Sacred Ruminations.

Mondays Blog Review Meme (for newbies like me)

I've only been blogging for 10 weeks, so I can't pick the 1st post of each month to do the 2007 meme, but I can take 1st line from each Monday's post to see what happens.

Week 1 - October 22nd
With encouragement and support from friends, I'm venturing out into this public space for the first time after making a promise to my Taos Writers Retreat "Buddy" yesterday that I'd post something before our next weekly call.

Week 2 - October 29th
I've tried to upload this photo ...(taken by me on the grounds of the Henningston Gardens in Taos, NM)... for days without success until now.

Week 3 - November 5th
I've spent many hours (over the past couple of days) trying to clean up and reorganize my Mozilla Bookmarks into a useful format ... a task that might not have been necessary if I'd understood how they work in the first place.

Week 4 - November 12th (It seems I posted twice)
1st Post -Multiple challenges encountered & solved through trial and error by me on Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations (because I'm a determined sort who doesn't give up easily) along with occasional feedback from fellow bloggers who graciously share their knowledge of how things work, led me to discover today a nifty feature available in setting up Blogger sites (albeit belatedly).

2nd Post- I love Google Reader (except for the frustrating fact that I now have more that 450 new posts to peruse because I keep finding new & interesting sites to add as I meander through the Web).

Week 5 - November 19th
This morning, I found a post entitled "Mindfulness and Transforming Anger" at The Dream Life.

Week 6 - November 26th
Day by day (as time & energy permitted) I worked in the yard ... enjoying my progress (however slow & tedious it seemed to others) ... making new friends as folks on their way to and from the beach stopped to comment (many offering suggestions as to how I might speed things along, not realizing I was using this as a meditative practice).

Week 7 - December 3rd
Here's a 4th visual piece I created with my MultiMate and Palm V years ago.

Week 8 - December 10th
This continues the saga of the Spring and Summer of 2006 when I decided to make some changes.

Week 9 - December 17th
I've been "tagged" by Mama Zen for a little Hoopla, and although I'm sorely tempted to hold onto this for my Thursday Thirteen activity (making it a baker's dozen rather than 12) ... as Mama Zen sez ... time is short for others to play so here I go.

Week 10 - December 24th
Browsing a bunch of blogs brought to my attention these stories of the season to warm the heart and inspire Christmas "miracles" of the memorable kind.

Week 11 - December 31
As 2007 draws to a close, I'm looking back on the year ... mostly thinking about the changes.

Well, it looks as though I wound up with 12 entries after all with 11 Mondays and 2 posts on November 12th. So there's my 2007 review, complete with links for anyone who wants to read more. If you're a "Blogging Buddy" and haven't snagged a "thank you graphic" ... read on.

With Happy Feet, I'm dancing for joy and wishing you a Happy New Year! May 2008 bring peace, prosperity, joy and wonder to all.

Hugs and blessings from Molly, Ms Kitty and storyteller