Here he is: our Home Gnome. At least that's what I call him.

When we were trying to sell our house in Fort Collins, our realtor here in New Jersey told us we needed a St. Joseph statue to help the house sell faster. We had never heard of such a thing but she swore that they worked. She bought us one and we followed directions for planting Joe in the ground, upside down in our herb bed back in Colorado. Ater a year went by and we returned to the house to do some repairs, we exhumed Old Joe to make sure he was pointing the right direction and we hadn't botched the burial. He was just fine, albeit a little dirty, and assuming the proper position. Poor Joe. All alone standing on his head for two years and he wasn't really the least bit of help.

In similar fashion, Rick came home with this cute little gnome to help the sell the house. At least he didn't have to stand on his pointy head, but instead has graced our front porch right outside the door since he came home in late July. The people who put the contract on our house came to look at it in August. We didn't hear much from them except that they were still interested and "working on things" until they requested a second showing on Colombus Day weekend. Since then things have moved pretty fast. We couldn't be happier and hope that they don't sell their house too soon.

We were here sitting out by the pool with the dogs when they visited the house the first time. They seemed like a really nice young couple and we could tell they were interested in the house. They asked a lot of good questions, and best of all, they noticed the artwork in the house and that all the canvases were signed by the same person — my Dad. Were were amazed that they had noticed. You have to be pretty observant to find his signature on all the paintings. Our estimation of them when up 100-fold right then and there!

So, Mr. Home Gnome I hope you bring this contract to a sale!

Did he really help? Who knows, but we like to think he did.

Sidenote: I can't see or hear the word gnome without thinking of my dear Mom. She always pronounced it "ga-nomee." Makes me smile even today. I'm not sure if she really thought that was how you pronounced it or if she was just being funny. Bless you, Mom wherever you are. We miss you so.

P.S. Follow the link to the St. Joseph statue above for the full story.

Sometimes when I lay in bed at night and don’t drop right off to sleep, words dance around in my head with no place to go. I’ve had some great ideas for blog posts completely formed in my mind—word for word, sentence by sentence—but when I wake in the morning all those thoughts and words have gone, blown out of my window by the same fan cooling my body. The fan lifts the words and disperses them into the night air, never to all be collected in the same place again.

The following post is a result of my finally getting out of bed to get a pad of paper to write what was going through my mind one night last week.

Our lives are like a woven tapestry. The individual threads and fibers that make it up are our immediate family, relatives, and friends. A tapestry of relationships; all different.

Over time some of the threads fray and break. Whether they just don’t withstand the test of time or it’s just normal wear and tear, some just do not hold up like others do. Some hold true and strong no matter what life throws at us.

Some come unravelled, sadly leaving big gaping holes that never fill back in. Some of those threads that have become unravelled can be picked up again and woven back in, never quite reaching the perfection of the first initial weaving, but still part of the tapestry once again.

Some simply come undone and just hang there and dangle, bereft and alone, with no one caring enough to repair the rift.

Others deteriorate over time, leaving small moth-eaten holes where once a relationship was. Some are too small to even notice.

Many things lead to the ebb and flow of these relationships. We may move away, have different life experiences, or just grow further apart naturally. Let’s face it, life is constantly changing. Relationships and friendships take work and both parties have to participate. It’s a game of give and take. Sometimes you have to give more than you take and hopefully someone on the other end will give you more back when you need it most. Sometimes it’s give, give, give and you get nothing in return. In those cases you have to take a long hard look at the relationship. Do you really want to invest in something that gives you nothing, or at best, minimal results back?

Today I’d like you to think about your friendships and relationships with others and what kind of person the people in your tapestry think you are. Are you a giver? Mostly a taker? Or do you like to think of yourself as an equally balanced participant?

And, if you are reading this you are also part of my tapestry in some way.

Thanks for sitting through my sleep-starved thoughts.

All photos taken at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens before Hurricane Irene.

Last night just after dark something magical happened. It snowed. Not for long, but ever so prettily. The flakes were huge and plentiful. We turned on all the outside lights and just watched it fall. Unfortunately after about 15 minutes it was all over but it left everything with a covering of white. The perfect Christmas present.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, white or not.

Cabin Christmas 2003 

Here are a few photos from our food tour of Nolita and NoHo (north of Little Italy and north of SoHo or Houston Street).

NYC's new rental bikes. We didn't see anyone actually riding one that was rented but these bikes collected people sitting on them using them as exercise bikes (just sitting there pedaling away) or using them to sit on while they make a phone call.

Cupcakes! 

 Pizza!

 One of our food stops that made us feel like we were back in San Miguel, Mexico!

And photos from our trip to the Freedom Tower 9/11 Memorial. 

Driving in!

The reflecting pools and fountains are pretty awesome. To think that a very tall building once stood in its place. It's somehow right that they chose to go down instead of building something "up" again.

Reflected buildings. What is really in the skyline?

On our way home we took Lynn to the best view of Manhattan that we know of—a little park in Weehawken.

As you can tell, the weather cooperated for both city trips although it was very hot and humid on the day we went to the Freedom Tower. We enjoyed her visit so much!

Sorry about the lapse. Did anyone miss me this week? What I thought was just a cold or sinus infection turned out to be strep. So, I've not been feeling the best to say the least. I finally went to the doctor on Thursday afternoon and after one look at the pus on my right tonsil, she swabbed it for strep. The test came back a faint positive, but she said she was going for strep and the treatment as such. Three days in on the antibiotics and I am starting to come around to feeling human again. 

It didn't come at a very good time considering my mom-in-law is here visiting. Not that it stopped us much from going and doing as we had planned, but by Thursday I was dragging my butt behind me. I'm sorry I haven't been around to anyone's blogs but I just haven't felt good enough to sit and concentrate on much of anything. The pressure in my sinuses has been enough to blow my head off.

My mom-in-law's luggage finally showed up at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night (she arrived Friday morning). She was so glad to see her own clothes again. Rick did have to take her out shopping for essentials and since those first few days that she was here were pretty darn chilly we loaned her some outerwear items. Not that she is needing them the past few days which have seen temps rise into the high 80s! She has seen quite a spectrum of weather since she arrived. We are all now huddled inside with the A/C blasting.

The 17 year cicadas have arrived and are starting to make themselves known. They mostly "sing" in the mornings and they sound different than our normal July/August cicadas. Rick found one by the shed and got to stare into its red eyes, but I have only managed to find the papery husks left over from them molting. They are more of a continuous hum than the back-and-forth banter of our own normal ones. When we first heard them I thought they were a machine running somewhere close by. I find it soothing but Rick finds it disturbing, like a plague about to land on us.

Still no fireflies. Rick and I thought we saw one the other night, but every night since when we look for them we see nothing. My mom-in-law has never seen one so we are hoping they will still make an appearance either tonight or tomorrow night before she has to leave.

The pool was opened on the 20th of May and the temperature was 54 degrees. Today we swam (yeah!) and it was 72 degrees. The new cabana is wonderful and hopefully I will have some pics to share this week.

I have more to say but I think I've at least caught you up a bit now. This is the first time I have felt like sitting here long enough to blog.

Photo: This tiny cat door was seen on our food tour of NYC last Sunday. I thought it was very cute.