Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Moving Forward

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Well, here we are. The last day of the year. I’m not one to do a lot of “It’s the end of the year!” celebrating. I’ve never been into the whole New Year’s Eve thing – most likely because there was always a party or two where the celebrating seemed forced and, really, just an excuse to drink. I’m all for quiet and reflective. In the end, time is a mortal constraint.

That being said, we will be celebrating quietly here at the cottage. No doubt we’ll be tucked in bed long before midnight. Some sparkling cider, some sweets, a good movie and a kiss or two. That will be perfect.

As with everyone on earth, we’ve had good years and not-at-all-good years. This year had incredible highs and a devastating low. The thing is, throughout it all, Don and I grew closer than ever. And that, for me, is priceless.

Don got to spend time in an apartment in NYC, he opened on Broadway, he had the wonderful experience of being in a show that audiences adored. He got to meet fans and, most importantly, send a little joy their way. I’m so, so proud of him.

I kept working on Broadway with Anastasia  and off-Broadway, as well.

We weathered the heartbreak of Escape to Margaritaville  closing too soon. Obviously, this was especially tough on Don. But we made it through that because we knew how blessed we were to have that opportunity to begin with; to run the show in La Jolla, New Orleans, Houston, Chicago and New York. To get to know Jimmy Buffett and the incredible cast and crew. It was all good. And it was all a blessing.

And we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in Paris. We got to visit London and Edinburgh. It was our dream trip and it was perfect in every way. We are blessed.

And that’s as reflective as I want to be. I don’t make resolutions. My goal is ongoing: Be the best person I can be, be kind, think less about myself and more about others, do all I can to make this world a better place for humans and animals.

It’s been a major challenge during this godawful administration. But the resistance will win.

And we have vowed to dance in the streets when that happens. Literally.

I wish for you a beautiful New Year’s Eve, whether you’re at a party, at home, or quietly celebrating with loved ones. Much love.

Happy New Year.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Sunday Morning Heading into the New Year

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A lazy Sunday morning – I’m just now getting to the blog. I woke up late, only because I had trouble sleeping last night. When I opened the blinds upstairs, it was snowing. No snow was predicted and this barely covers the ground, but it was a lovely sight, nonetheless. I like my snow this way: just a bit, big, fat, pretty flakes, and very little coverage. Can we have that all winter long, please?

I made a batch of linzer cookies this year and we are slowly making our way through them before sweets are sharply curtailed at the first of the year. These are vegan linzers and, as a linzer expert, I guarantee you would never notice any difference. If anything, they’re better.

Favorite cookie ever.

We threw out the rest of the coffee cake and I’m just about to toss the rest of the pumpkin pie. We haven’t been eating either, an indication of officially hitting the ‘too much sugar’ mark.

I brought this little sofa downstairs the other day. I want to see what it looks like in the vintage dollhouse to get an idea of the scale. But I’ll have to move the dollhouse in order to check that out and I’m not ready to. I’ll need to move it to the coffee table in the den in order to clean it and take some photos. Maybe tomorrow?

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to see it next to the pots and ‘big’ things in the den. Looks lilliputian, doesn’t it?

I sorted through everything in the pink cabinet in the office yesterday; organized the drawer and the contents of the cupboard. A lot got thrown out. I also cleaned up the desk. The big task – mammoth, really – will be cleaning out the closet. I’m holding off until I take down the Christmas decorations.

The other day, when hanging the Paris sign, we also hung Don’s hat and the signed poster from Escape to Margaritaville above his desk. Someday, when all of this is organized and the room looks settled, I’ll take some pictures.

Most of our conversations of late have been reflective. We’ve been thinking about 2018 and everything it contained: so much joy, so much good, but also heartache and sadness with a bit of anger. The good far, far outweighed the bad, however, and we count our blessings today and every day.

Happy Sunday.

Potpourri on Saturday

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• The tree is still up and will be until January 1st. Most likely, I will take it down on that day simply because I need to put it all away in the closet under the stairs. Currently, all the Christmas boxes are taking up residence in the office and I’m starting to sort through things there – getting rid of anything I don’t need. I need the space.

• I finished up in the bedroom yesterday – one more bag of books going to the library. That makes five.

• One of the little things in what Don calls my “stocking.”

A bumper sticker from our local used bookstore. Reminds me of when I had bangs.

• Do you remember me telling you that one of my presents from Don was going to be late? He ordered it stateside but it turns out it shipped from China. He showed me a picture of it on Christmas Day. It arrived yesterday.

It’s difficult to get a good photo of it, but here it is. He swears I mentioned ‘neon’ when we were discussing gifts and I have no recollection of that at all. None; which is slightly scary. Anyway, when he first showed it to me I was surprised, to say the least. But I actually really love it! It’s LED, by the way, not neon. Saint-German is the area of Paris we spent a lot of time in. It’s really lovely. We carried the sign around the house yesterday trying to determine where it would work the best, but we had always thought our office – which is full of memorabilia and whimsey – would be the best place for it, and it is. I like it here because I can see it clearly when I’m working on my projects.

I don’t think it would work anywhere else in the house (doesn’t fit with the rest of the decor) save the upstairs hallway, but we couldn’t find a good place for it there. This little area, tucked under the sloped ceiling, is perfect.

He’s such a sweetie! I’m a happy girl.

• The piano tuner messaged me this morning saying the piano was built in 1941. Mom would have been 14 then, which makes sense as I seem to remember her taking piano lessons when she was a teenager.

• I ordered a piece of sheet music yesterday on Amazon. Did you know that most sheet music today is only offered via a digital download? Ummm…no. I wanted the real deal, with a cover illustration and everything. So I found a used version that was in very good condition and I ordered that.

I remember growing up in an area where I could find sheet music at several local shops. My piano teacher ordered sheet music for us from Grinnell’s, a long ago store in downtown Detroit. Grinnell’s was a fantasy land for me. It had several floors filled with pianos; all sizes, all shapes, all prices. It had a great sheet music department. You could buy things like metronomes there. Once a year, we had a recital on one of the upper floors of Grinnell’s where we were judged by professional pianists. It was all very exciting and scary and wondrous.

There was also a shop in San Diego when I lived there – I don’t think it’s there any longer, but maybe it is – right by Balboa Park. It was a music store and when I could finally afford to have my piano shipped from Michigan to San Diego, I went there to buy all sorts of classical music. They had tons of sheet music. Does anyone know if it’s still there? I’d like to think it is.

Another thing from the past that I miss.

Our conversations here at the cottage have been full of this kind of thing lately. What have we lost to technology? Our list keeps getting longer.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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