Attentively Attentive to all Things

Okay, so yeah...it's been a while since I've posted. I know that.  Don't hold it against me.  :) Caris has a new obsession.  That's right...it's Disney Princesses.  I just started Cinderella for the second time today, and since 9am, we've watched Beauty and the Beast , Sleeping Beauty , and Tangled .   I didn't realize how easy it was to memorize songs from these movies, but I guess after watching them over and over, it's bound to sink in at some point. While I watch Cinderella , the current favorite, for about the millionth time, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the last few months.  They've been hectic; full of happiness, sorrow, anger, anxiety, and mounds of stress. Last month, I watched as many of my fellow co-workers lost their jobs in a lay off at my firm.  Over time, we've gotten somewhat back to normal, but I will always miss those I worked with who no longer have jobs.  I will continue to worry for them in this horrible e...

.....and the canner is canning away at the moment.  Dave has picked 5 plastic grocery sacks full of green beans in the last few days, and I am tired of snapping them!  We still have 3 more bags to go!  I'm looking foward to freezing them...much, much easier than canning...I hope. At the moment, hearing the "pop" of the seals on the jars is exciting enough.  It's always a bad day when nothing "pops"! A few years ago, we decided that it would be a great idea to make homemade gift baskets to give to our family at Christmas.  Included were several jams, butters, conserves and our own homemade wine (okay, it was from a kit, but whatever, WE still made it!).  Everyone loved them, well....except for the relatives that didn't drink alcohol.  They thanked us kindly for the rest as they handed the bottle of wine back. So, it's July, and as I sit here watching Dave process green beans and hearing the seals "pop", I realized now would be perfect time t...