At the risk of hearing a chorus of groans and raspberries I will confess that today was a holiday for me. It is one of the nine holidays that we observe at the community mental health center where I work. That period from Thanksgiving through President’s Day is always a good one as there is at least one long weekend in each of the four consecutive months. And now begins the dry spell.

I don’t know if you do anything special in observance of President’s Day (a question obviously directed at U.S. citizens 🙂 ). We don’t do anything particular, nonetheless it is nice to have holidays like this that call to mind our history, especially during times where there is chaos, turmoil and unrest in various areas of our day to day lives. It is nice to be reminded of what this country has stood for in the past and can still stand for now. It is nice to take a moment to think of the patriots past and present who have given their lives in service to this country. Even if those observances are brief in nature, I am grateful for these holidays which make me stop and think on things that might not otherwise penetrate through the noise of a day at work.

Allow me to say “thank you” to those men and women serving and who have served in our armed forces and also those who have or are serving in the political arena. Though either career choice isn’t always appreciated and can bring with it lots of criticism, the fact of the matter is that you are making a sacrifice for our country and I am thankful for all that you do. I am grateful and need to do a better job of keeping you in my thoughts and prayers on a regular basis.

Beyond those thoughts, we have had a really nice day:

Continue reading President’s Day →

Everyone has their own style and if you are like me, making your house into a home is a process that takes time and undergoes many changes. Our home style is fairly eclectic, mixing antiques and faux antiques with found objects, art prints, contemporary items with a dab of shabby chic, liberally sprinkled with books. I tend to grow very attached to the things that decorate our home and over the last decade those things have been added to and yet much has remained the same. This year we are wanting to change things around a bit. We aren’t planning a radical shift in style so much as an expansion on some things that we’ve grown to love over the last few years (my wife’s adoration for 60’s drinking glasses, for example).

And so we took our first trek of the year on the antique/flea market road with a trip down to Springfield, Missouri with my parents and my aunt and uncle this past Saturday. It was a sunny yet bitterly cold day and we had a lot of fun reminiscing about our childhood (my aunt and uncle’s kids are the same age as my brother, sister and me) and digging through others’ trash to find treasure. That is probably a bit unfair as all the places we went to were more in the antique vein and less in the flea market arena, but we still had a lot of fun. I got some really good ideas, found a few fun things, and didn’t spend much money at all.

It was a win-win!

Continue reading Do you Flea? →