The 'Good', BAD and UGLY of 2013... Here are some of the GOOD THINGS....

I discovered a person who does kitten fostering with a web cam.  This is Foster Dad John (you can search those words and find him)... this little charmer was able to learn how to 'give a high 5'...  I love black and white Tuxedo Cats.

I discovered that my little town does have a bakery.  I can only go there on Saturdays due to their limited hours.  My favorite bread is on the bottom:  Whole Wheat bread with full sized olives mixed in the dough.  Oh MY! 

Yes, this is a photo of snow... but, the 'GOOD' is that it only snowed 2 times and for only 2-3 inches at a time!!  So, to me... after living in Germany in a place that snowed for months on end and never melted off of the ground until April/May... this was a VERY GOOD THING! 

When spring arrived... I discovered that my yard was full of flowers!

I discovered that the "FISH MAN" came to my town on Wednesday nights!  He has an assortment of cooked fish items.

I discovered a small craft/yarn store in a nearby town.  *Only about 3 miles or less away from my rental house.

I've never seen this flower growing this big in a FLOWER POT in my life!

Wisteria blooming across the street from my rental house.   Such a beautiful sight to see even if the blooming season is so short.

Various tulips blooming at school.  My students and I stopped, on our way to/from recess and going to/from other classes, to see the changes to the plants as they went through their various growing stages.  I think it helped them treat the flowers (and maybe other flowers?) with respect.   Not all children did this-- we'd see other children pulling off the flowers... and doing other destructive things to them.  When my students would get upset about this- I told my students that that is why we 'admire' flowers growing-- so, that we get to see their beauty for a longer period of time.   I think that making an effort to stop and watch/explain the various flower stages did give my students an appreciation of the flowers more than if I hadn't done this???

Our school went on a field trip to the SOAVE Castle just about 20 minutes from our school. 

I discovered a huge discount yarn store.  (I did a blog entry about this-- with clearer photos!)

A good friend came over to see me the first week that school was out in June (she's teaching in England now- we had taught at the same school in South Korea.)   We went here and there and she wanted to go to Venice.  However, my injured knee couldn't do all that walking or the steps going up/down all the bridges over the canals.   So, I suggested that we take the water taxi to Murano Island instead.   This is where the 'glass blowing' is performed.  She had a great time, plenty to see/buy and I didn't have to walk up/down stairs.   A win-win for all.  This is a boat selling vegetables.

I had surgery on my knee.  I finally had plenty of time to knit.  This is a sweater that I knitted for myself.  I don't have a photo of the completed item.

Yes, a knitted wool hat in summer.  Hey, you have to knit when you have the time for it.  I knitted this for a friend's birthday. 

This is "Dovie" my friend's neighbor's cat.  She likes to stay at my friend's house and visit her cat friend instead of living at her own house. 

This is "TOM THE CAT" and he is a great cat.   He and Dovie are friends.  However, he is the 'cat in charge' because he knows that my friend's house is his home.   Tom looks very serious in this photo- but, he is a sweetie and loves to be petted and brushed.

I knitted dishcloths for my friend's aunt who drove me to physical therapy sessions.  I would knit these mostly at physical therapy while I had the ice pack and/or the heat on my knee.  The other times-- you were too busy moving around to do any knitting.  Others, just played on their cell phones during the 'waiting' times (the ice and heat part of the therapy) and I knitted instead.   Wonder who had something to show for their waiting? 

I knitted this hat for my friend's mother.  Once school started up (my friend is also a teacher) her mother would drive me to my doctor appointments.   Soft yarn in a beautiful color- much  nicer than the photo shows too.

I have realized for years that I tend to KNIT FOR OTHERS.   So, I am trying to make an effort to knit things for myself at least 'once in awhile.'   Here is a pair of socks 'fresh off the needles'... if you look you can still see a pattern stitch marker by my ankle.  This is some Regia sock yarn that I had purchased in Germany.  The yarn makes the patterns/stripes as you knit it. 

Another pair of socks.  This yarn also did the striping as I knitted it.  This yarn is from knitpicks.   I didn't like this yarn as well- it doesn't seem like it is going to hold up as well as the Regia sock yarn will.  The socks are a little big for me too.   You can see that my leg is still VERY SWOLLEN from the surgery.  : (

I went on a base trip to the Christmas Market in Innsbruck, Austria.   It was fun to finally get to do something fun.  Even though it was a small market, my knee hurt very much from the walking. 

This was in a window store display.  I wish that they were selling this- I would have bought one like it.

More of the Christmas Market.  I also went to Bolzano, Italy to that Christmas Market.  I took the train.  This was a charming town right in the mountains.  I'd like to go back and visit another time.

My friends from Germany (where I used to live) came down to spend a few days of Christmas break with me.  It was fun to have company and to be able to cook something besides 'one dish' meals that I end up eating the left-overs for several days.  I didn't put a real tree up- my living room is too small.  However, I did put my metal Christmas tree up with a variety of ornaments hanging on it.  It was a good 'stand-in' tree.   

Can you see how fuzzy my photos are lately?  My camera isn't doing very well.  I guess over the years- it has been dropped too many times.   The last good photos are of the cats (shh, don't tell anyone but they were taken last summer- not this summer) and the last good photos taken in 2013 were of the tulips.   

So, I will eventually have to buy a new camera.  It has lasted for about 8 years or more.  It has not had a cushioned life at all.  My cold fingers have dropped it many times, to the pavement, streets, etc.,  while taking photos over the years.   Some photos are so unfocused and in poor quality that I can't even use them on my blog.

When you find yourself asking... "WHY????"

At this time of the year... there tends to be a lot of 'reflecting', regrets, new hope, and making of resolutions.   I've never been one to make resolutions... because, I know myself well enough to know that ... "I'd GET very disappointed with myself" when I failed and also knowing myself... I know that I would fail to fulfill whatever the resolution was that I had made. 

Just try to do your best everyday.  I tell my students all the time that 'all we own in this world' that is our own making and CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY FROM US... is our own 'character'... it is up to us to decide what type of person that we want to be each and every day.   We have constant chances to start over.   To make changes.   Are we honest?  Do we keep our word?  Treat each other following the Golden Rule?  "Do onto others as you would have them do unto you?"  Or to put in it words that a 7 year old can understand... "Treat others the way that you want them to treat you."  I always tell them 'Do what you know is the right thing to do-- not what you see others doing." I hope it does make a difference.   Eventually.   Even if I never see the result of my attempts at teaching character along with our learning lessons.   I will tell you this though... while 'as a whole' children are the same... there is a big part of the world (USA world especially- since, that is my life's frame) that isn't the same as it was even 10 years ago.   There just seems to be more of 'blaming others'...  Even in little things.  It makes me sad.  And tired. Sometimes, I feel like I am ready to get a cane and hold it over my head and yell at people to get off of my lawn!  We shape others each and every day.   It is our choice to be helpful to strangers, to smile at those that seem tired, unsmiling, fretting, overwhelmed.   Who knows what battles they are fighting?  I'm sure that I'm like many of you- I rarely share (especially with those that I work with-- we only have to learn that lesson once, right?) personal problems with casual friends, work friends, etc.   All it takes is to be 'burned once' by someone... eager to share 'news' about you... and why is it that they tend to add this 'news' with a side order of some 'embellishment' on their part? I just know that in my everyday life and especially my life as an American living overseas and 'rarely' understanding the language being spoken around me... that I very much appreciate those that do try to help me get around in this world, help me know what to do, how to find something and even as simple as help me order food off of the menu.  It doesn't take much for me to receive the benefits of someone's kindness towards me. Last week, I went around my new community, as I've done for over 30 years... I took holiday goodies to the local people that are a part of my life.   In the past, I've made several things and made a holiday goodie package- this year... time was very limited-- and I made fudge.   Fudge is something that is a part of the Christmas holiday and winter season in the states and especially in the southern states.   I translated a simple message to Italian explaining that this was a candy that was a 'traditional' holiday food for Christmas from my part of America.   I then wrote out this message for each package of fudge that I passed out. Before school was out, I gave some to the teachers in my grade-level and to the office staff of course.   In my 'off-base community' I took the fudge to the girl that cuts my hair, to the physical therapy department, to the local grocery store (he doesn't speak any English- but, he is so nice to me), the local pizza place, and to the Deli of the much larger grocery store that I also frequent.   I gave the fudge to others too.   They all read my little translated message and thanked me profusely for my simple gift.   I did this when I lived in America too. Last week, when my friends arrived from Germany (via:  Austria and the Christmas Market in Bolzano, Italy) it was dinner time.   I took them to one of the local small restaurants.   No one speaks any English at this place.  (nor do I expect them to do so)   This was the first time that I had been there at night- my other visits had consisted of going there at lunch...  At lunch, there is a hand-written menu listing 3 choices of each of the 3 courses, that they had prepared that day, to choose from.   At dinner, there was a printed menu to select from.   I saw a chicken dish and I had wondered if it was the same chicken dish that I had recently had for lunch.   So, I asked her if this particular dish had tomatoes in it.  (I did use the Italian words for chicken and tomatoes.)  In her attempt to make sure that I was helped as much as possible, the waitress actually called a friend who spoke both Italian and English to act as my/our translator.   There was much laughing and enjoyment in their attempts to help me and my friends.   It's just things like this that, while it was a small thing, it meant so much to me... that they were willing to go that extra step to make sure that I was able to order what I wanted to eat from the menu. I try my best to 'most of the time' to see the good in the world... and I'd like to think that there really are good people out there in this world... tiny, little, kindnesses are done all around us all day long.  Sometimes, these acts of kindnesses are given, shared, blessed, and even dumped on us too. I remember a speech that I heard when I was in high school.   I don't remember who the speaker was... but, he was talking about how we all have a 'bucket' and that every time someone says something mean, doesn't keep a promise, ignores us, stabs us in the back, disappoints us, etc.... well, it dings our buckets we develop some leaks/holes in our buckets...  that get bigger and bigger and eventually...   Pretty soon... our bucket full of:  happiness, joy, endurance, and being able to handle life's ups and downs appropriately gets all skewed/drained/etc.   AND, the only way to fill our bucket back up is by being kind towards others and receiving the same in return... showing care/concern/commitment/faith/being honest/helping/simple politeness/etc.  AND, Each praise towards us and each kindness that we show towards others - even if it is returning borrowed property... fills our bucket and the buckets of others too. It was a very powerful speech.   A huge convention center full of thousands of teenagers in absolute silence listening to the power of words spoken to our hearts.   I heard this 30 years ago and I can still remember the gist of the speech.   We were there as a part of our FHA state convention in Oklahoma City to hear speakers in the General Assembly Meeting. Of course, after this... we got to go and see the current heart throb in concert:  David Cassidy!   We did scream our heads off too.   Our poor Home Economics Teacher.   We gave her a headache.  I think it also might have had something to do with some of the girls going down on the main floor, to the empty seats, to get a closer view of David Cassidy instead of staying in our 'cheap seats' up high in the balcony? I remember that we were NOT ALLOWED to speak on the way home.   For over 2 hours.  It was a long, long, long bus ride home. So, go out there and fill some buckets and try your best to keep your bucket from getting empty too! I hope that 2014 finds you with a very full bucket on a regular basis.   Be kind to yourself-- sometimes the world seems to be getting a little harder to find the 'good'... but, it is out there.  I have to believe that it is still out there.   I hope that you have good health, happiness, joy, find lost things, and experience peace and restful sleep in this new year.

As 2013 ends...

I find myself thinking about all the changes in the past year... and I just know that sometimes I do think that it would be good to have a 'warning' about future life events-- but, the reality is... I think it is best to not know things ahead of time.   We might become fearful or even dread the future- if we really knew things that were going to happen to us ahead of time.  I just know that in my own life- I know that I wouldn't want to know even minor life's events before they happened.    I found this song (ignore the strange creepy puppet doll dancing and the tree with what looks like 'gun' ornaments' hanging on it)  I heard this song in an old Christmas movie that I was watching and this was the only 'you tube' video of the song that I could link to so that it would play in the blog.    If you'd rather not watch the dancing puppet-- here is just the song (but, I wasn't able to link just the music to the blog)  http://m.firstcom.com/Browse/Labels/CD%20Listing/CD%20Details/Track%20Details.aspx?cdId=7059&wId=607884      It is a beautiful song the singer's name is:  Charlene Oliver and she has a beautiful voice.   The name of the song is:  Are You Coming Home for Christmas

The things you see in window displays...

Window display.  I'm not quite sure why/how/when spider webs fall into the plan of wearing ski clothing?  Maybe, buy new ski clothing because it's been a year since you last wore it... and it probably has spider webs all in it now?   Or is it being used 'to represent' skiing through the clouds?

I think I have the 'message' decoded now:  "IF you don't wear COLORFUL new ski clothing... spider webs will attack you!"

Don't TRUST the images on the Navigon system... OR ??????

As we left Innsbruck, Austria and drove through the ALPS and through the Brenner Pass... this is the landscape images that are seen along the side of the Interstate... (on both sides- mind you)...

Same view... but, you can clearly see that we are driving along the Interstate road... or the Autostrada  as it is called in:  Italy

We continued to drive and ended up getting into a very cloudy area... at different points -- you couldn't even see the mountains along the sides of the road and in front of you.

Notice the ROUTE that my friend's TRAVEL SYSTEM showed us driving in/on/with... the blue car?  That's us?  Where's the road you ask?  Well, we are clearly on it as you can see in the photo... The blue line?  THE RIVER that we can't even see while driving on the road and just barely, to the left of the river, is the purple road that we are 'supposed to be driving on'... instead it appears that we are driving over the mountains 'off road'...

Oh, what's this?  We have almost found the 'desired route?'  (the purple road) and apparently another road... (yellow road) and yet we appear to still be driving far, far, far from the desired road.   The navigation system kept telling us to 'drive' on the desired roadway.

Night falls... and it looks like we MIGHT FIND THE ROAD... if we stay true and continue driving straight towards and across it...

All I can say is... it was quite entertaining and it continued this 'off path' driving (on the screen only) until about 4 miles from my house when we finally got off the Autostrada (Interstate) system and started driving on the local roads.   Sometimes the navigation system had us on the river, driving along side the actual road, or far, far... away and apparently driving along the mountain tops?

Swarovski Christmas Tree in Innsbruck, Austria

There is a Swarovski Factory/showroom in Innsbruck and this year they have a Christmas Tree in one of the market areas.  I didn't get to see it at night- but, apparently it is lit up and really sparkles then.

It is placed over an opening of the 'food area' and you can look up into the tree.  

This is as close to standing in the center that I could get-- people were in the way.

Some of the items for sale.

I have always taken photos of old bikes that I have found in my travels.  Here's one with a decorated basket that I saw parked in Bolzano, Italy.

EEKKK... It's Thursday already... WHERE DID my winter break go? It's almost half over already!

I've been on the go since school was out last Friday at 3:10pm.   I spent Saturday 'cleaning' for house guests that would arrive on Monday.

On Sunday, I got on the train for a 4 1/2 hour trip to Innsbruck, Austria to meet my friends driving down from Germany (from where I used to live).  We shopping/looked around at the Christmas Market and spent the night.

On Monday, we drove towards Italy and my house- with a stop at the Christmas Market in Bolzano, Italy.

On Tuesday, (Christmas Eve) there was lots of cooking, watching of 2 movies, and eating.

On Wednesday, (Christmas Day and yesterday) I cooked breakfast, we watched a movie (true store that I didn't know about-- a town only about 15 miles from where I went to University in southern Oklahoma- the movie was based on a town in Texas- (Sherman) across the state line.  My friends left after a lunch of sandwiches made out of the left-over ham.  They are out touring Italy. Door on a Church in Innsbruck.  More of the carvings on the door. The door was also very thick. Lots of marble in the church.   Here is the beautiful floor design right in front of the altar.   That's different colors of marble. I am going to take the day off today.   I need a break-- from work and I'm going to just clean up the kitchen, put away anything still out from having company, knit, and watch maybe a whole movie?   Tomorrow, I'll do some errands, get my hair cut (if I can remember what time I am supposed to be there- I made the appointment a little over a month ago.) and start in doing some of the many 'things' that I want to get taken care of while I am off work.