l'amore fra la madre & le figlie....

There are days when I am just in awe at my blessings. This past Saturday was one of them. (even with Alabama's loss to LSU - so close!) We, of course, had a house full for the weekend. The Watsons & the Stallings were in town for the game. Saturday morning my mother, sister & I were up early and headed to campus to the Bryant Conference Center for Merry Market. (it is a vendor show held yearly by the Junior League) Immediately we found things we liked & the shopping day began. While wandering all these different booths, trying different tasties, oohing & ahhing, gasping at some pricing, while marveling at the inexpense of some luxuries I found a wonderful thing. Here I am with the two women I admire more than any other in the world. Standing here laughing, talking over anything & everything, being with them enjoying each other's company, & realizing how it is too little time we spend together as mother & daughters. Nina's new location to Atlanta has been more wonderful than I hoped. Our age differences for so long was such a thing to over come. Then about 8 years ago it is as if our eyes opened & our hearts reminded us that sisters have bonds that can withstand any gaps if you work at them. Thus the friendship we have today began to build. Mom now has both daughters who are so different yet so much alike within arms reach, at ages where we can all talk & share anything or nothing at all. The ability to do so is sometimes overwhelming. There are points in each others lives that we are all not familiar with; it is as it should be, we should always be able & aware of something new about someone or at least be aware that there are things we don't know, things we are not yet able to understand. The point is that we will be there when we are needed & will lend the ear, shoulder & heart. We are getting to truly know one another. We giggled over odd fitting clothing, were understanding to not really criticism but help towards 'clothing support', loving about issues that can be scary, & more like a group of young girls on a mall run than ever before. Cloistered in a changing room laughing over colors, lengths, choices, & each other I found myself very satisfied & blessed. Quality time is not a term meant only for a husband or immediate child. I find that quality time is a range of moments, each one as important & special as the next, the key is to know that when the moment has passed that our passing memories may not be able to capture every millisecond but they will hold a scent, a sight, or a feeling that defines what love is...

Happy Halloween!

Well, it is Halloween! I love this time of year, especially the candy! :) Plus who would not love a day where it is completely acceptable at any age to pretend to be someone else or to be your self only even better! I mean we all say we miss the days of pretend, play, naps; well Halloween offers a small touch back to those times. You get to dress up, eat candy, have friends over, & not feel guilty, like there are other things you should be doing. I have always been a big fan of Halloween. This year perhaps will be one of the slower years. Though this past weekend we did indulge in two parties that celebrated the season, but tonight will be fairly quiet. Hopefully we will have some trick or treaters, we plan on watching GHOST WHISPERER (we have been tivo-ing this season to save up to tonight in order to scare the begeezus out of Marcus), & just picking up around the house. Fairly calm this year. This is actually the first year in 7 years that we did not make it to a haunted house. We usually load up and head to Sloss or Atrox, but this year we found ourselves at a few parties & our weekends are slammed. We actually just realized the next open weekend we have is December 16. Crazy, I know. But if you know me well enough you know that being the hostess is something I revel in. So tonight my house will hopefully host a plethera of princesses, super heroes, or athletes who will come to the door & help deplete our candy stash before Marcus & I eat our weight in butterfingers & crunch bars :) Have a Happy All Hallows Eve, Sowen, Day of the Dead, & Halloween!

Wandering around on a nice afternoon....

Saturday afternoon was one of those great afternoons of fall. The weather was perfect, just enough chill in the air, but warm enough to not have to be bundled up. Marcus & I decided to go out for a nice drive around town. We stopped over at Midtown for Kirkland's grand opening, then wandered into Northport for some chocolate at our new Peterbrooke chocolatier. MMMMMMM it was so yummy! Then we hit a few furniture shops, Marcus wants a new bedside table for his birthday or Christmas. This is a decision we have to make together or at least I do get an opinion :). Furniture stores are so funny. The salespeople meet you at the door like they are waiting for a delivery then they follow you around as though any moment you might turned to them and say: "YES, sell me everything, we are rich, we have cash, & will buy it right now! This very instant!!!" I know they are merely working on commission & trying to make a living, but geez, furniture buying should not be something you rush through. With the cost of an ottoman being 799$ and a side table anywhere from 399$-899$, these are not spur of the moment spending choices; unless of course we could say the statement above. So answer my questions when I have them, let me show you the style I like, then direct me to a choice, and leave us by ourselves for a bit to hash out spending options!! Anyway, we did see a good many styles & designs for me to pick through to surprise Marcus (surprise in the sense he won't know exactly which one he is getting until the event, of course he would KNOW he is getting the side table:) ). After that we found ourselves at Sam's Club buying food for the upcoming weekend against LSU. It was nice, just wandering around town with not a large agenda just being able to relax. We know the holiday season is coming fast & town will be swamped over with people every Saturday so before all the rush, before all the bustle, make sure you get out & enjoy the changing weather; time flies by so quickly once Thanksgiving gets here...

Kerry's House

Hey Guys I wrote a blog about our friend Kerry's house in Calera, at the base of this page is a slideshow of his house. There are more pics of it, but this gives you a little glance of all the work he has done.

ROLL TIDE BABY! ROLL TIDE!!!!

OMG! Yesterday the Alabama Crimson Tide met the Tennessee Volunteers at Bryant Denny Stadium. This matchup has been going on since 1901 & is wrought with passion. the 2007 game was no exception. The Crimson Tide played with heart, with talent, with skill, & with passion. They stepped on the field ready to win. Boy did they ever win: 41 -17, Rammer Jammer never sounded so good!
Our house was full of screams, shouts, claps, & happy tears! Now this was only me, my mom, my sister & her kids at the house. Marcus, Dad, Keith, Eric & Mindy went to the game. They came back floating into the house cloud 9 does not even describe it! We had a great weekend, then this morning went over to the Kentuck Art Festival and enjoyed some original art.
Let me just tell you, it was all surreal, the whole weekend was... wow. Now we just wait until the 3rd & pray to watch the passion reign over LSU. ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!

Interesting bit of history....

For the last few weeks the owner's of my company have been touring Europe. On their travels they journeyed to the Czech Republic. John Hickman, knowing my heritage is Czech, took a whole bunch of photos for me. He came back with beautiful landscapes & buildings. But there was one Christian church that really takes the cake. I have attached the story & the pictures to explain them. It is an amazing & freaky building. But the cause & reason for it is more interesting, it will make you think about years before our time, the journey of those with faith, & the ingenuity of the human mind. Enjoy (also with it being Halloween-time, these sort of fit :) )

This Ossuary chapel is located in Kunta Hora. This chapel with its belonging graveyard had become a well-knownand attractive place to get ones relatives buried in a longtime ago. Why you may ask?.. The answer is to be found in the actions of a certain abbot Henry. In theyear of thy lord 1278 the Cistercian abbot Henry embarked on a pilgrimvoyage to the Holy Land (Palestine). This was more or less common practicefor people of the church at the time. What he couldn't have imagined is theeffect a little symbolic deed that he performed would have on the future ofthe little Sedlec church. While in Palestine abbot Henry visited the Golgotha and from there hebrought back to Sedlec a jar full of earth. He referred to this as 'Holy Soil'.When he got back he spread the earth over the Sedlec cemetery and thus thecemetery begun to be considered as a piece of sacred land. The burial groundrapidly became one of the most popular in central Europe and people from allover the country and Europe came to Sedlec to get buried when they felt thestrength of life diminishing. Many brought their dead relatives or friendsto be buried in the holy soil of the Sedlec cemetery believing that the holynessof the ground was a sure way to guarantee the buried a place in heaven.Many corpses and bones were accumulated this way and especially during thetimes of the plague (the black death) many who were about to die from thedisease came themselves to be buried in Sedlec. By 1318 over 30 000 bodieswere buried there and this gave rise to the creation of the ossuary. The ossuary is located in the All Saints' Chapel built around 1400.The chapel is still surrounded by a functioning graveyard and if youtake a careful look at the top of its towers you will see thatthat a "jolly roger", or a skull and crossbones, replace the usual Christiancross. The ossuary itself dates from 1511 when a half-blind monkwas given the task to gather the bones from the abolished graves andputting them in the crypt to make place for new "customers". The taskmay seem somewhat macabre and unenviable but it served a practicalpurpose. Anyhow - now the material was in store and waiting for anidea and someone to realize that idea. A more questionable task than the one of the half-blind monk was the one of the local woodcarver who as late as 1870 was hired to decorate the inside of the Chapel with the human material (an approximate of40 000 sets of human bones) at his disposal. The name of the artist was Frantisek Rindt and the employer was the Duke (Prince?) ofShwartzenberg. The coats of arms of the family Shwartzenberg was one of the creations evolved from the artists mind. Another one isthe chandelier which contains every human bone in the body, severaltimes over, of course. However questionable the Ossuary - it is real. The bones are real.The feeling of death is real. But also the feeling of peace.Most of the dead in the Ossuary died a "natural" i.e. non-violentdeath and the bones were removed from the ground to give moreChristians the possibility to be buried on holy ground.I'd like to stress the fact that the church is not made of bonesas so many seem to think! The interior is decorated with humanbones but it's a "normal" church made of stone and bricks. I'd also like to point out that it's a normal Christian church supporting and teaching the followings of Christ. It's not some weird cult or Satanist church or anything like that.

It is actually an amazing thing. These people came to this place to die believing it to be holy land. The Christian faith teaches you that your body may lay in the ground returning 'to dust' but the soul separates and journeys to its destination. The idea that they removed the bones from the ground in order to fulfill other's needs to be buried on this now holy land is remarkable. Many people would have removed the bones & just disposed of them, cremated or just 'dumped' them out in the country. But to me it appears that by keeping them on this land even when the graves were full by putting them in the church is very respectful. Eerie, but respectful. :) I thought it an interesting bit of history to share...

The everlasting comfort of a kindred spirit...

It just so happened that we were able to visit with a wonderful person on Saturday night. Kerry is one of those people that when you are in his presence you just smile. No matter your mood, it seems he illicits laughter & smiles. I have known Kerry for about 7 years now. Marcus has known him for 27, they were born 7 days apart. It was basically kismet the way their families have lived in the same cities over a course of many years. His parents are two of the kindest people you will ever meet & his father has the same 'smile in his presence' character. My first meeting of Kerry was when I lived in Orlando & worked for Disney. He came to visit with Marcus over Spring Break. I immediately liked him. There was something in the way he & Marcus clicked. A bond that even with different cities, different schools, different lifestyles, friendship & kindred feelings prevailed. He helped me see Marcus differently, he believed in our relationship, never once giving us a hard time for being together so long. Some people continually told us to breakup & date other people; "sow your oats", "experiment" things like that. Kerry didn't. He accepted me with open arms, I am sure he watched how Marcus & I got along before he made any decisions as to my presence. Then time went on, I moved back to Ttown, we visited him for his college graduation, he came to Marcus's. Birthdays, holidays, football games,girlfriends, and then Marcus & I got engaged. The first name on Marcus's tongue for a groomsman was Kerry. I embraced the choice with all my heart. On our wedding night he spoke to me with words so sweet & loving of how he had always known Marcus & I were meant for one another, ever since that first meeting in Orlando, he loved us both and wished us such happiness. Those words still bring tears to my eyes...Now here we are over a year later and he still is one of my favorite people in the world.
He has been working on this house in Calera, AL. It is this old farm style house he was able to get for around $50,000. Now this 50 grand bought about a good many acres and then the house. We saw the house at the first of last year, it was a true fixer upper with so much potential that we were envious of his find. He saw the heart of the house and has worked diligently to restore it & bring it back to life. The rooms are so beautiful now, the floors are gorgeous. Rather than tear it down or completely restructure the whole house he merely made it a home. The white of the outside with its hunter green trim welcomes you with a southern warmth that is a mirror of the way Kerry's smile beckons you to be comfortable. The first room off the big porch is a living room with a cozy fireplace. I was intrigued when I saw the wooden antique mantle with fleur de lis accents, his mother told me he searched and searched for a mantle wanting antique over new & boisterous. He found it. The journey for that piece is so Kerry. He took time, patience, probably saw a dozen styles & designs but waited then found the perfect piece. The warm camelback colored walls lead into a hallway; to your left is the dining room. RICH deep crimson with a craft white style trim beckons you to place a serving buffet full of food & a table to welcome you home. The lighting is definitely his creme de la creme. A chandelier with a rustic finish & wheat running up the chain evokes a sophisticated country atmosphere. The hallway light piece reflects the same accents as the dining room only continuing the warmth of the camelback color. 2 side bedrooms have been re-done with paint & doors, there is a new side entrance that leads out to a wooden deck. Then the hall parts to the left for the kitchen. What a kitchen. The warmth almost envelopes you in this room, he has beautiful custom cabinets with rope trim that allow the tall ceilings to flow upward. A center island is home to the sink and there is enough counter space for about 10 stools, but for me the epicenter of the room is really at the edge of the building. A bay window nook looks out into the back yard & yearns to enjoy breakfast activities on a spring day. It almost makes you vision Kerry and his dog Molly sitting on a Saturday morning at the window just relaxing & enjoying the day. To the left is a large wash room that I definitely envy. :) But where the hall parted to the kitchen it leads you to the guest bath & master suite. Here, Kerry truly made his mark. The crimson of the dining room lends itself to the guest bathroom. A stand alone antique-style sink sits below an elegant mirror. The bath/shower combo is large enough to be quite comfortable and the tile around it again echos the sophisticated rustic tones he was going for. The master bath is a treasure as well. New ceramic tile feels cool to the touch as you enter the bathroom thinking of sinking into a large whirlpool tub. The bedroom is a deep hunter green with a large ceiling fan, big windows and french doors leading to the back yard. He truly has put so much of himself in the house. You can see his excitement in his eyes as he talks about the last finishing touches. His charisma has seeped into the old walls, the newly laid hardwoods floors are like old friends begging to be enjoyed. He found a house, but even before it is complete, he has made it a home. I guess I should not have been surprised at all. Kerry has always been able to see light in everything. No matter what comes his way he will find the lining that is not just silver but glows! I admire him for all he does. I only hope that I can make people so comfortable in my presence or surroundings. It seems that a lot of us have those friends that would have just lost touch, chosen not to stay connected. Marcus & I are so blessed to have one of those special friends, those kindred spirits who time cannot touch the friendship...
*I hope to take some pics on our next tour & place them up here for viewing.

Instant Replay...

If you weren't glued to your television or in Oxford, Mississippi this weekend then I pity you. Alabama played Ole Miss in another heart wrenching, last second, to the wire football game. We always play each other hard, but this weekend took the cake. It was like watching two teams trying to one up one another; mistakes were mimicked, good plays were mimicked... it was crazy. Marcus & I decided it would come down to either who had the ball at the end of the game or who made the last mistake. We were right, too. The last mistake a receiver stepping out of bounds coming back in and becoming ineligible... a costly error for Ole Miss. The receiver had managed to pull the ball out of ALabama's player Lionel Mitchell's hands on about the Al 5 yard line. Thank goodness for Instant Replay. I have always been a bit wishy washy on the constant time outs & play reviews but this time it was a saving grace. At home it was easy to see the error, but as a line judge on the field, wow would it have been hard to call that one. 7 seconds on the clock with an AL 27 Miss 24 score an ending was decided by Instant Replay. What a game! What an entertaining way to spend a Saturday. Even if it had not turned it around, the game was so exciting, so heart stopping that it would have been looked at as a hard earned loss had it went the other way. Never leave early when Alabama takes the field....ROLL TIDE!