❤❤❤

All you need is love so they say..I've recently been noticing hearts everywhere. Not made hearts but rather hearts in nature, and with all this business of equal rights to marry happening right now, love is on my mind.

Having a teenage daughter in high school during these times has been incredibly eye opening. Sexual orientation is a complete non issue in her eyes, and apparently at her school too. You love who you love. Of course I realize that we are spoiled here tucked away in Northern California where everyone is more likely to be accepting then say....the Mid West. Although I shutter at the option paralysis she must feel trying to figure out how to love, it must be so refreshing to not have to worry about how you end up loving! I have a feeling there will be lots of twists and turns before she settles in and I am ready for whatever comes. Offering my eperiences to guide and counsel....

So without putting a red square and an equal sign on this page...go Supreme Court! Do the right thing...

Here s a little tune by Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis to inspire. Same Love.

My favorite baby and my favorite fabric..

Finally left town for a night to go visit my favorite little lady in the universe! Baby Zoe!
She's still adorable and quite a bit bigger. Also I got this amazing fabric and I want to make everything out of it...happy weekend! Hope you get to leave town too!

Oscars

I was thoroughly unimpressed with Oscar style this year. Boooooring! Except Hale Barry...Remember when stuff like this used to happen?

Love big people...

Life is too short!! That is all...

Right and wrong.

It is much easier to concentrate on what is wrong then what is right.
It's too early to wake up, I don't want that for breakfast, I can't find anything to wear, that person is driving like a maniac, school sucks, bank account overdrawn, wifi on the fritz, soooo tired.

Meanwhile in the little village of Timbuktu, in Mali Africa that my family and I would drive to on vacation as a kid, the Taliban have taken over. Those amazing fun loving people that would invite us into their homes, show us their crafts with pride, let us play with their children and animals are now ruled by terror. Literally. Safety is a luxury there. Condemned to death or public beating for love is routine. Of course this is only one example of some of the real wrongs in the world today. There are just as pressing problems close to home. This one just struck my childhood memory chord.

Globally I feel pretty helpless. I can not banish the Taliban from the world. Or end world hunger. Stop war. End domestic and child abuse. Not even sure how to end this post cause everything I could say ie: take the negative out, concentrate on the right, inspire others...just seems horribly cliche. But this reminder does make it easier to notice how much is right with us. Live thru example, be aware of what is right in your life and talk about THAT. Others will follow suit...

Luce Goods

I don't like to pat myself on the back....much, but picking my company name and using goods instead of something more specific was really a stroke genius. Ahem...this provides me with license to pick any "goods" I choose. Be it cycling caps, musette bags, embroidery or baked goods. It all works. I'm back on my sourdough kick and this is by far one of my favorite goods cause it makes the house smell soooooo good..

Another thought about me

I'm like a cloud, no hard or sharp corners, everything just, sort if, soft. Always there, being pushed one way then another by the wind.
Never noticed. Forever there. Sometimes letting tears fall to earth. Sometimes joined by friends, other times drifting through life alone. Quiet, except for the occasional roll of thunderous anger, then quiet, till the anger breaks through the calm facade again, creating thunder.

Time...

I've been really stuck on time recently. Time passing, kids growing up, my dog from 20 years ago, parents aging. Me aging. I often consider it, a devilish force time. Slow when you don't want it to be, fast when you want to hold on to the moment...and always moving forward. No second chances.

I do a lot of chalk board designs at my work and here is one I did for our upcoming movie night "groundhog day". It just seemed appropriate for today...

Looking down...

I will now do my family a solid and not include any photos of them or their dirty laundry in this post. The backlash from posting photos of those piles was brutal. You'd think I'd posted pics of them bare assed naked! Anyway... I came across this artist this morning as I was perusing the Swiss Miss blog. One of my fave blogs for sure, Swiss folks have such excellent esthetic..

Menno Aden is the name of this fine artist who takes all his pic looking down on the various rooms he picks. The ultimate bonus for the subject is that however messy and in shambles your house is, viewed from the top it looks like a nice neat pattern where everything is right where it belongs! I highly recommend looking this guy up his pics are full of color and texture and inspiration...

xoxo,
Lucie

Being a gymnast

I know it sounds strange but I can't wait for the bars to make my hands rip open and bleed like crazy for the first time. I want to look gross and to make people disgusted. Because as soon as my hands tear open, it's means I'm a real gymnast and that I'm getting better. I can't wait to get to show people my tear and say, "i got it at gymnastics" cause then they'll know I'm a gymnast, and that's something I'm really proud of.

And somehow that pride and glory and hope of victory override the constant pain in every muscle and bone in my body. And all these scars and tears will show my hard work, they signify that I am working hard for something I really want; gold. And though I don't have it yet, I'm gonna get it.

I love gymnastics because its kinda hard to worry when your flipping at unimaginable speed through the air. Loose concentration and you'll break your ankles.

Toodles,

Violet

Challenge accepted...

Washing machine gave up yesterday after 30 years of service. This was inevitable and I had been anticipating it for at least a year or so. But ignoring all the signs is easy and so we are caught completely off guard. With two teenage girls, two cyclists, a yogi, a gymnast and two little dogs, one with limited bladder control, things could get interesting around here. I do love hand washed freshly dried on the line clothes but with the weather being what it is we'll be wearing icicles...

Rant

Mom says being depressed is a state of Mind, optional. I'm not really sure if I trust that theory but it seems fairly reasonable. After a recent run in with the world NOT ending I realized I've got to live a little..... This coming from the girl who spent January 2009 to December 21 2012 making my arrangements for the after life not saying the g word making sure that if anything went wrong and there really was a heaven that I would end up there. I found myself hoping that someone would just take me to therapy or choke it out of me. I was so embarassed that i worried about such things so ferociously . And it never stopped, i could never stop worrying.After nearly 3 years in constant panic mode, I've loosened up a little bit. I didn't have a full blown panic attack when my lovely sister announced we are living smack dab on the San Andreas fault line, so hey, it's a start. Right? I learned thru ruthless panic attacks that as much as I wish I could control these things, I can't. I'm not at all okay with that and still scares the poop out of me, but I realize it and I can almost except it. Almost. Of course, when the next doomsday date comes out, I'll do it all over again but that's okay. Well that was a good rant. Xoxo, Gossip girl wait???!!! No! XOXO, Violet

Opal

Me:
I'm the kinda girl that doesn't like soda, and who would rather drink juice. The kinda girl that freaks at the tiniest bump on a plane. Who feels bad for people even if they deserved what they got. I'm the kinda girl who when she's sad tells people she's fine, even though all I need is a shoulder to cry on and arms to hold me.
The kinda girl who still sleeps with stuffed animals and loves chocolate. The kinda girl who isnt scared to dye her hair, or get multiple piercings in one ear. I'm scared of garbage trucks, and butterflies. The kinda girl who loves to travel but misses her friends the whole time and would give anything to have them there with her. The kinda girl that would adopt all the animals in the animal shelter if she could. I yell at my family to turn off lights when they aren't using them or turn off water, I'm the kinda girl who quietly smoldered when someone litters.
I believe in true love. The kinda girl that wishes on a star.The kinda girl that cares, wishes and believes.
This is me and I'm proud of who I am.


Sent from my iPhone

Introducing...

Before we get to far, as i am writing this my dear mother is currently squirting whipped cream into her face as you read. Jealous? You should be. Cloud mouth is common stress reliever in our house that and spooning Nutella right out of the jar. The authors of this blog consist of: Mom/Lucie,12 year old me/Violet, and if we can get her on here,15 year old Opal. We are writing this as a excuse to ramble. Humor us.

Here's to....

When twilight first came out I was adamant that my two daughters, then 10 and 7 would never read those books as teenagers but rather as adults. The idea being that by then they would be able to discern the good relationships from the bad ones. That they wouldn't fall prey to the over glorification of true love, and forever and happy ever after. With no discernible conflict and limitless forgiveness no matter how horrible the offense.

What turned out to be more important was sharing the experience with them instead. Discussing the relationships and the players in them...this successfully gave us a gateway to discuss those things which become difficult. Boys. Girls. Girls and boys. Boys and boys. Girls and girls. Needy and forever loving or passionate, protective and slightly reckless.

The lines of communication remain open and that is the lifeline to healthy relationships. No matter who's team you're on...

xoxo,
               luce