One of my fave craft sites is using November as a month of handmade gift ideas, and they have great giveaways.  Check out Sew, Mama, Sew to see for yourself and find some truly creative ideas.

As I try to catch up some on my Google Reader, I also found some other truly craft-genius ideas.  Don’t miss what Instructables has to offer (my hubby adorned the laptop with one of their stickers from the Maker Faire), especially if you’d like some tips on your Turkey-day meal.

And then I found SouleMama.  Do go there.  It’s an inspiration to me.  She seems lovely, writes beautifully and is about to have a baby any day.  She also has a book and some patterns that would make some beautiful gifts.  A good find for the day . . . now back to the children.

Blessings.

On the radio today I heard two African American mothers suggest that their son could be the next president; one of the sons actually made the suggestion that he could be president.  Perhaps this is part of the hope and change that Obama seeks to revitalize in the USA.

No matter which side you voted for, we have to trust that our nation will move forward, that as a people we can join together, agreeing to disagree on some points, compromising on most others.  Personally, I believe that if we are to make things better for our children, we have to embrace a paradigm shift.  We have to leave our “look out for No. 1″ mentality behind and take the “servant-leader” role.  We have to learn how to lead and live with compassion, with awareness and consciousness.  We have to make our homes safe, help people find a right livelihood and genuinely take care of one another.

Do thoughts like these increase the profit margins?  Will it guarantee that we’ll be able to buy all the best and newest things out there?  No, but do we need those things anyway?

If we can take off the layers of messages we receive from corporate media, the layers of expectations built upon us from issues of the past and set forth with a new dream, who knows what can happen.

As Obama did, we can try.  Hope.  Change.  And in the sing-song of Disney’s Pixar Robinsons, “Keep moving forward!”

Martin Luther King, Jr., proudly said he had a dream.  He dared to share his dream.  Look what he sacrificed.  Look how far we’ve come.

What do you dare to dream?

No matter what your political persuasion, I hope everyone took time to vote today.  I got in my ballot last week, sans children, though it’s a great idea to get your kids involved, too.  It might also be worthwhile to document your feelings on this “landmark election” for its “historical” value (as all the talk keeps saying).  Truly, your grandchildren might ask you about it 50 years from now.

Not as pressing as voting, but perhaps of great importance to those little ones expecting surprises in upcoming months are those holiday gifts.  Ah, yes.  I said I wouldn’t put it off this year, and I did it anyway.  My husband said we are not glazing on Christmas Eve this year, and I do not intend to be working those last stitches Christmas day on whatever knitting project I end with!  So, now’s the time to finalize our list.

You better believe the only items we’ll be buying are basic supplies.  No pre-packaged retail gifts, except maybe books.  If you need some ideas, here are a sampling of ours.

• Scarves — sewn or knit
• Slippers — felted (if I can learn in time!)
• Pottery — various hopefully practical items
• Hats — knit
• Gift boxes — paper/cardboard; sometimes the packaging is part of the gift, too

If you don’t have time to make your own goods, remember the importance of buying local, supporting work-at-home moms, buying handmade and being as eco-friendly as possible.  “Google” any of those topics if you want a slew of information.  If you choose the “recycling” route, make sure it’s not tacky and will be okay in the situation.  A good friend of mine does not appreciate that her children’s gifts are garage sale finds when everyone else gets a packaged new item.

Enjoy being thoughtfully creative.  The love and care you put into a
gift is as much a blessing to the receiver as the gift itself, if not
more so.

I can’t help but have the Beatle’s song going through my head today because it is, in fact, my birthday.    I have no vanity about it being only my day of birth, so I’m willing to share the joy with all the other brilliant Scorpios out there.

The reality of it is that this day is like any other, for the laundry doesn’t wash itself, nor the dishes.  The sick child will need to be held all day, and I’ll keep hoping that my remaining milk is helping her eyes and that we all won’t get whatever she has.  The deadlines remain, and I’ll have to clean the house yet again to restore it to the beauty it was before much of the family came over.


The blessing of this day, however, is that the stars have been
aligning, and my dreams have been potent.  I consider birthdays personalized New Year’s, so I have a chance to begin anew on resolutions fallen by the wayside.  Today I will be gentle with myself, encouraging, nurturing, and today my husband tells me he has a surprise in store.  Today is unlike most days in that on this day several years ago, my spirit entered this world fully into this body.  Hopefully each day I come closer to realizing my purpose, finding my calling, fulfilling God’s will.

Thank you, mom, for birthing me.  Thank you, family, for the love and gifts.  Thank you, Mother Nature, for the beautiful autumn colors that have remarkably lingered into November.  This weekend was a beautiful Indian Summer.

May we carry a bit of the magic and love of birth into every day of our lives.