Recently I was watching Castle, which is one of my favorite shows, and they talked about your “LSL” or Last Supper List. As in, the people you would want there at your very last supper. You’re allowed twelve spots (just like the original Last Supper), and it can be anyone living or dead.

I thought about who I’d want on mine. The obvious first choice? Jesus. Who wouldn’t want to sit down with Jesus and break bread? But for the purposes of this exercise, I’ll go with twelve other people. I assume Jesus will be there in spirit, and besides, if he were there in person no one would want to talk with anyone else. We’d have too many questions for our savior.

Okay, so… the list. I created mine and then immediately thought there were other people I was probably missing. But I guess you can’t over-think this. You have to go with what comes to mind. Here’s mine (in no particular order):

Maya Angelou. For obvious reasons. She rocks. She’s part of the reason I love poetry so much. In fact, having poetry read to me by her is one of my top, crazy wants for life.

Mary Oliver. Well, you knew that was coming next, right? I’ve already told you that Mary Oliver is the coolest ever, so why wouldn’t she be on my list.

Bret Michaels. What kind of dinner would it be without a rocker to shake things up? Besides that, I do have a secret crazy desire to write a song with Bret Michaels. Maybe I could pitch a few poems his way while we ate dinner.

Mister Rogers. I wrote about my favorite Mister Rogers quotes and shared why I loved him so much. When I was a kid, I loved the fact that he looked right into the TV and told us we were special. Just as we were. I was hearing just the opposite in real life, so when I turned on that TV I just wanted to fade away into those positive words and calming, safe, environment.

Chuck Cecil. My all-time favorite Packer. He played from ’88-’92, and was known for his aggressive, hard-hitting game. When I left one of my early jobs, my buddy Sharon got me a Chuck Cecil football card that I hang up on the Packer tree every year.

Anne Boleyn. I had to hold myself back from filling this entire list with people from the Tudor court. Henry VIII? Elizabeth I? Too obvious. Wouldn’t you want to find out from Anne Boleyn what was true and just myth?

Ben Franklin. I debated about putting Thomas Jefferson on this list, because I really wanted one of the founding fathers, but I figured he might be too introverted. Was he an introvert? I’ve always imagined he was, but who knows. Ben Franklin, on the other hand, would make sure the dinner party was a party. Plus, he could give us all the 411 on the revolution.

Mary Cassatt. American home-girl but part of the Impressionist movement also? She’s there. She could give us some scoop on what Degas was really like, and I can ask her about my favorite painting, Young Mother Sewing.

King David. One reason I love the Psalms so much is that it really gives us a unique glimpse into the life of David. He was a warrior, a king, clearly one of God’s favorite people, but that was all the outside things we knew. Then, we’re blessed with the Psalms, what his fears were, his laments, his joy. I love that we have this complete picture of this man because of this.

Bobby Sherman. My childhood crush, and someone that seemed like a genuinely nice person. I’d like to find out what it was like to be a teen heartthrob, to build a replica of Disney’s Main Street, and also to move on from that life and become an EMT.

Martin Luther King. Wouldn’t it be great to have him say the prayer for the meal? For him to talk about what he thinks of society today? Of his dreams? I so admire this man and what he did to change our society for the better.

Elinor Lipman. Well of course we need another writer for the list! Who better than one who writes charming, quirky characters? Her smile alone would encourage great conversation.

The weather is warm, I’m getting fired up to do some crafty stuff soon, and I’m trying to reorganize the house. How about you? I honestly can’t believe we’re this far into May. (I sound like my grandma – but time goes too fast!)

The warmer weather means my writing partner is enjoying the sunshine and the times we can run outside. Check out that look of contentment.

Is that picture great or what? I used it in an article I did about how my dog has changed my life. I was also asked by my friend Debby Mayne to share some good news. I loved that she asked us to do this, don’t you? Too often we focus on the negative, and we never stop to realize how good life really is. You can often see how blessed you are in the smallest, quietest moments of life. I don’t do this enough, and I was glad she reminded me to do it. Debby is a very positive friend, and I often tease her that it’s impossible to have a bad day around her. She’s got a bunch of books coming out, too, so be sure to visit her site and learn more about her.

Here’s some of the articles I’ve written in the past month.

Celeb Stuff

• Celebrity Ice Cream
• Celebs Who Married Fans
• Things Your Family Can Learn From the Kardashians

Misc

• Fish Fry at the Schwabenof
• Advice on Life for Anyone
• Gift Ideas for New Family Members

Friendships

• Why Most Friendships Don’t Last
• Times When Friendships End
• Lending Money to a Friend
• 5 Reasons Never to Borrow Money From a Friend
• The Importance of Active Listening in a Friendship
• What’s a Good Friendship Fit?
• The Four Agreements and Friendship
• How to Talk to a Friend About a Personal Hygiene Problem

Relationships

• Flirting in Midlife
• Should You Renew Your Vows?
• Credit Card Debt and Your Love Life
• What Not to Do on a First Date
• Things a Rebound Relationship Does for You
• Online Boundaries in Relationships
• Your First Date in a Long Time

Do you ever get obsessed with something? Like you love it so much you just can’t get enough? I’ve got a few of those types of things marching their way through my life. (And no, making glass sculptures isn’t even on the list! And here you thought you knew me so well.)

Here are ten things I just love.

Dandelions

I talked about the dandelions in my yard the other day but I have to mention them again because I love their color. They give me this burst of brightness whenever I head outside and fill me with a sense of nostalgia in memories of my grandma. We used to braid them and put them in our hair when I was a girl. I loved that.

Jack LaLane Juicer

I’ve been juicing for a while now, and love it so much! Man, it’s fun. Plus, I love the thought that I’m getting more vitamins in my system because of it. I love experimenting with things I wouldn’t normally eat (hello kale, I’m talking to you) and with how fabulous it all tastes in the juicer.

I had a crappy juicer for awhile and finally broke down and bought a Jack LaLane juicer. It’s a powerful machine, which I like, and they also give you ideas for how to use the leftover pulp (like in quiches, lasagna, soups, meatloaf, etc.)

My Big Giant Teacup Planter

I saw this teacup planter thing all over the place last year but (in typical fashion) I was too cheap to buy. It was even too expensive at Walmart. I loved it but didn’t love it that much. Or did I? When I didn’t buy it (and my husband told me every chance he got to “just get it already!) I thought about it all the time. I’d say, “I should have got it” after I got home from seeing it somewhere. But I was too cheap.

As a result? I was obsessed! So now I finally got it for the low low price of $9.99. Aldi, baby! You can’t beat ‘em.

Dead Giveaway

I’ve been sickened and sad over this story about those three girls who were held captive (and worse) in Cleveland. Haven’t you? Haven’t you sat and cried and prayed over these three women, who need our blessings and prayers and love so badly?

Their story isn’t over, of course. They have challenges ahead of them, and I hope we will all continue to remember that and pray for them. Pull for them.

One thing that struck me in the midst of this story, that despite that evil man that did this, there was another man who did the right thing. He let them out. Called 911. Became a hero and an Internet sensation. There were some who posted stories about his past, but you know what? I think that’s wrong. This man, Charles Ramsey, was thrust into the spotlight because of a good thing, a heroic act, and to have some media outlets talking about the negative? He didn’t deserve that.

Now let’s switch gears here. Let’s celebrate the goodness, because as we know, the goodness doesn’t get enough press. One thing that I’m obsessed with lately is the remix they did from Ramsey’s initial interview on TV. Have you seen it?  It’s really amazing.

Here’s what I love: They took his natural speech, voice, words, and made music from this. There is a talent in that, folks! A gift. It reminds us that our voices and words can resonate so much with people. We don’t have to auto-tune our voices to get that to happen, but I have to say I was impressed with whoever did this remix version. Bravo.

What’s So Amazing About Grace

Someone in our church group mentioned this book months ago, and I finally got around to reading it. Wow. The author, Philip Yancey, eloquently describes grace, using current events and Biblical references and common sense.

I loved this book so much. I would read it right before I went to bed, and then nudge my hubby every time I read something I couldn’t get enough of, and he’d roll over and say “that’s nice” and go back to sleep! LOL Do you love that or what?

Gelato Pens

Somewhere, several months ago, I picked up two gelato pens: a black one and and a white one. I loved them. I use them to add texture to my artwork, and when I glide that pen over the collage I have on canvas it creates such wonderful depth. You can add water to it, and smooth it out. You can rub it in, and create yet a different texture.

The problem was, I wanted another one (a red one) and couldn’t find them. Anywhere. I checked Michaels and JoAnns and the little artsy joints and the big art center in town (where they have literally everything else related to art) and couldn’t find them. Sigh.

Every time we’d go in someplace looking for these pens, my hubby would say, just order it online. Why didn’t I want to do this? I have no idea. But I finally did.  Try one of these pens and see if you don’t love it. I’m obsessed.

Glasses Shop

I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but my new obsession is Glasses Shop online. Glasses are usually so expensive! And if you want anti-glare or some other thing, forget it. Outrageous price.

So I saw this thing online and realized the glasses were like $20 and thought, are you kidding? For $20 I can throw them out if they suck.

But they didn’t suck. You give your prescription and they make a pair of glasses for you. I’ve bought five total pairs (different styles and one pair of prescription sunglasses) for just $100. Five pair for that price!

Tulips

The fact that you can plant a bulb into the ground and it will come up, all colorful and beautiful, all on its own is pretty amazing to me. I’m enjoying these in our yard.

Third Day

I’ve really become obsessed with this band’s music the last few years. I’ve always found it inspiring, but lately it’s all I want to listen to. I rarely listen to music while I work, but since I listen to Third Day so much it has begun to soothe me while I write, like a familiar rhythm that comforts you. I used to only find that in classical music.

I don’t have all their albums (yet), but I do love Revelation and lately, Miracle. I find that their music lifts me up, makes me think, brings me soy, and taps into my emotions on a very deep level.

Solar Lights

In general, I just love solar lights and this time of year I ended up buying them wherever I go. I enjoy the thought of something that cuts through the darkness just by being filled with energy by the light. I’ve made a few solar lights and love picking up a few at the dollar store to craft with. They have them in silver, blue, and pink.

The latest ones I got were these string lights which look really cute on various garden chotchkies in the yard. I also have a few flower solar lights which light up in bright colors and makes our garden look so alive at night.

Mid-May, and it’s finally started getting warm. We have a plethora of dandelions, which I know I should get rid of but somehow they make me really happy. I mean, seriously, look at how many we have:

I can’t help it, dandelions always make me think of my grandma. We used to take them and braid them for our hair. I loved that women and now I think of her every time I go outside and see all those yellow weeds.

You know what else I love? Artsy blogging links. Here are some of the cool craft and artsy projects my talented friends are making this week.

God’s timing. Is there anything more mysterious? For me, learning patience through God’s timing has been very hard. Are you patient? I’m not. When I see something I work toward getting it. I never expect things to be handed to me (growing up poor was a good way to embrace that lesson), but I learned early on that I was a hard worker and could accomplish a lot if I set my mind to it. What took me longer to learn was that sometimes I can work as hard as I want and still won’t get certain things because they aren’t up to me. That’s a hard one to swallow when you’re young (or maybe not so young!) and don’t get how God and His timing works.

We Can Make Plans

That’s one of the questions I’m going to ask Him when I meet Him, because while I can look back and feel immensely grateful for certain things (relationships that didn’t work out, mistakes I was saved from because of unanswered prayers) there are other things I still don’t get. But for now, I’m not trying to get them. I accept them as a part of faith.

Isn’t it refreshing to accept your limitations? I feel comfort in that.

The older I get, the more this passage hits home:

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

~2 Peter 3:9″

To me, this means that sometimes God waits to give you things until you can handle them. Oh, you might think you can handle them, but He knows better. The older I get, the more I realize how patient God has been with me, even when I haven’t been so very patient with Him.

This week I’m finishing up a few more of my “strong women” pictures. I’ve been turning my focus toward more “universal” images, but I had started these and wanted to finish them before I moved on to some new pictures.

The first one is a redo of a picture I painted last year. I called it “Addicted to Love” because the girl reminded me of one of Robert Palmer’s models from that video. But as time went on, I wanted to add some words, and I thought the beginnings of my poem “Dear Women” would fit perfectly. The poem is from my book Yes, You.

Dear Women

The next picture also has some of my poetry on it. The words are from “Friendship” which was first published in my book A New Dish and is now available in New and Selected Poems. It’s funny that I wrote about friendship way back in 2005 and now here I am writing about it professionally. I think I’ve always enjoyed that subject. It’s fascinating what happens between friends, and how we’re always trying to meet, figure out, and spend time with friends.

Friendship Safe Place

The next pictures are of girls with “hope” and “faith” as part of their necklaces.

Hope Necklace

Faith Necklace

I talked about my change in prayer focus, and I thought, what better way to demonstrate that than by praying for you. Because you all lift me up so often, and I appreciate you. I want to do something for you, too.

Can I pray for you? Is there something you’re struggling with? Grateful for? Share it in the comments, and I’ll respond with my prayer.  If you don’t want to do that, you can always email it to me, too.

God bless you.

In You I Take Refuge

How has your week been going? You know, this week I’ve thought a lot about happiness, goodness, evil, and our crazy world. There are terrible things happening in the world, and at the same time, at the very same time, you’ll hear of something amazing and beautiful happen in the midst of it. All of it has me feeling very reflective.

To that end, I think the world needs more beauty in every form, including art. Here are the links this week from my amazingly talented friends.

Do you know how much you mean to me? Yes, I mean you. The readers that take time to read my stuff, comment, send me notes, and buy my stuff. I’m grateful to you.

I’m not sure you know how much kind gestures from you mean. I do say thank you from time to time in various posts, but I don’t think I’ve ever devoted one single post to telling you how much your kindness means.

So let me do it now.

I was thinking of Van Morrison’s song “Have I Told You Lately?” which is one of my all-time favorites. I’m a huge Van Morrison fan. And there are a couple lines in the song that stand out to me:

“There’s a love that’s divine
And it’s yours and it’s mine
Like the sun
At the end of the day
We should give thanks and pray to the One”

and

“Fill my heart with gladness
Take away my sadness
Ease my troubles, that’s what you do”

These are the words that make me think of you, dear readers! Your kindness makes me glad, takes away my sadness, and eases my mind. It truly does.

And then, when I get a note or letter from you, it turns my heart to God. I thank Him for the ability to connect us and transform our lives with divine love. When you’re being kind or even just letting someone know that you related to their work, it showcases the beauty of God’s love in action.

That’s how I see it.

I get a variety of notes from you. Some of you write to tell me you enjoyed an article, or liked a book, or even just enjoyed a few words you caught here and there. Recently I’ve been getting kind notes about my artwork, which fills my soul like you wouldn’t believe.

But here’s the thing about your kindness: I don’t take it for granted. I’m humbled by it. Each and every time I get a note or comment I’m filled with gratitude for you.

And yes, sometimes I get cranky or nasty notes, too. If there’s a lesson in them, I take it in. If not, I move on. Those are very rare, though. Most of you write me with lovely words, positive sentiments that keep me going. And I’m so, so thankful for that. So thankful for you. I just wanted to tell you that.

Grateful

The weather is nicer here and you know what that means: glass sculptures. For the last two years you’ve seen me make a variety of sculptures, starting with this red one (which is still one of my favorites, the red is so pretty) and continuing with a variety of colors and sizes, finally adding solar lights and then moving to a new type of sculpture: glass mushrooms.

Just when I thought I had found my limit of things to do with glass, I started seeing something new on the flea market circuit: glass sculpture animals. I’ve seen a couple that are cute, but mostly I’ve seen people just being creative with glass. Their sculpture might not look like an animal but the very fact that they attempted something different really inspired me. Of course, I had to try it myself.

It all depends on the type of glass you have laying around. I find pieces super cheap (and I mean super cheap) because if it’s not then to me it isn’t worth doing. The fun of these projects is that they are cheap and use found materials. I recently got two huge boxes of glass pieces at an estate sale for $1. Total. The woman just wanted it all out of the house. Her trash was my treasure. In that pile of glass was a couple roundish green vases and a clear cup. I had a few more pieces that used to be part of those big trays people used in the 60s, and a vase and plate.

I took one look at this pile and thought: glass turkey. You can see it, right? The big tail, the wings…

Okay, admittedly, you need to use your imagination with this sculpture, because while I think it looks like a turkey, others might think it looks like either a cheesy, kitschy sculpture or a bunch of junk glued together. But that’s art, folks! It’s subjective!

I took some green glass beads from the Dollar Store, and folks, if you’re not buying these beads at the Dollar Store you need to do it! It’s the cheapest place to find them, and especially for a fun project like this, they work perfectly.

I glued some green beads on the “wings.”

And also the tail.

Then, I glued the tail to the body.

I glued the head together.

And the body. At this point, it sort of looks like an alien, doesn’t it? Those round things are the feet, and will keep the head up. I had to get a little more creative with how to keep the sculpture upright while drying. (And in case you’re wondering, I know turkeys aren’t really green.)

Then, I added the head to the body.

And viola! The turkey is done!

Here’s a tip, the Dollar Store is also a great place to get solar lights. Especially if you’re buying lots of them and gluing them to glass turkeys. But even better? You can glue glass beads on these cheapie solar lights and when they light up at night the beads look so pretty.

For now, I put the turkey on an old stump in our yard. We’re planning to cover the stump later on, and I may move it somewhere else then.

At night, this little turkey lights up.

Dorky? Yes, definitely. And yet… I know I will have to make a few more!