Hope Can Burn Brighter Than Fire

I accepted an offer by Tide and Megan to write about HOPE this holiday and join the TideLoads of Hope at the Holidays carnival at Blog Nosh. I thought about HOPE and what that means to me this holiday season.
I wrote from the heart about my family and I invite you to come and read the post here.

"Life is constant change and flux, but the holidays seem to stop us in our tracks and make us think harder and reflect a little longer on the life we live. We think more deliberately about family and friends and the world and peace and hope. We make lists- gentle reminders of the folks that matter to us. We reach out and become “better angels of our nature” if only for a few weeks of the year."

You can share your own stories of hope, along with Blog Nosh Magazine, Velveteen Mind, and a gathering of inspiring bloggers, and enter your own post link in the blog carnival below. Explore featured bloggers as well as three featured posts selected from carnival participants listed in the linky (that could be you!).

Lend your voices now, then participate live during a two day event in New Orleans, Sunday and Monday, December 13 and 14, as we tweet stories of resilience from laundry recipients and volunteers on the ground. Follow along on twitter via #loadsofhope and be sure to follow @TideLoadsofHope.

It's a great thing. Please join friends. xo Amy

Have to hold your head/Higher than yr heart

It is the day to stuff the turkey and other such assorted foods.
I hope we all have fun and drinks are not even necessary to deal with loved ones.
I have a small request for those who might read blogs today.
On this happy day one of my friends is sad. She has just found out her father is ill.
His name is Kate's dad and if you believe in any thing say a prayer today to the universe that her new baby and 4 year old son will get some more time with their grandpa. Thanks.
I am not particularly religious in an organized way and I sure as hell am not starting prayer chains on my blog, but I think God listens and I fancy that he likes my blog except when I drop the F bomb, so please...

Kate's dad- better.
xo
Happy Thanksgiving.
Kiss Kiss



art from the amazing and gorgeous TheBlackApple

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But if you try sometimes you just might find

Finn started soccer last night. Joe and his pal Will are coaching the team. It was a night we looked forward to for a long time. Finn could not stop talking about soccer and his team and the majestic wonder of it all. I feel like he is more like me than I want him to be. Sometimes I think Finn pumps up something in his mind to such a high power that it cannot ever measure up in reality. He is like me- trying to get directly to the denouement of a situation without unraveling and experimenting with the complexity of it all- without a true catharsis.

It could have been all the sugar at the birthday party prior or the little sleep or the sharing of his dad or any number of conditions that made him weep and cry and act more like a baby than a big boy across that massive soccer field last night. It could have been anything but it really embarrassed me. It broke me down a little in front of all the other families I think.

I had told my good friend Angie as we sat on the blanket in the field prior to the practice that I thought she was type A in a good way and she replied quite quickly that she thought I was rather type A as well. I think I might have huffed for a minute but then I realized that she was most likely correct in her assumption. But I wasn't always like this.


I wish she would have known me before I lost all my invincible skin and before I had kids. I hope that all my old friends can still squint there eyes and see me unafraid and charging at life. Those days are really far away sometimes. Days when not much would shake me or get me down. Days when problems were like math- not real. Days when I knew exactly who I wasn't. Days when I would think nothing of smoking a joint or spending the whole day writing one perfect poem. Days when I really didn't care what others thought. Like at all. I keep writing affirmations on my chalkboard, but they are not working.
Is there a procedure to remove this type A lesion? Anyone? Anyone?

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

What is rolling round my mind today:


Right off the bat I am so delighted that one of my favorite women is back to the blog. Mackink is back and I am delirious. I love her and imagine her my fancy cousin. We will sip something in Paris someday together. I just know it.


And then it is well known that I am a creative nonfiction junkie and I was so delighted to hear that Alice Bradley is included in this new book. This is a big deal. Huge. And although I don't know Alice very well I am even more in love with her than ever. Holy cow to be included in a Lee Gutkind book! It is one step closer to NPR baby. (my dream in life/ Amy Turn Sharp/ NPR essay contributor)



And then there is sweet Jos. I mean take a look at her gorgeous house over on Design Sponge. She has been in Cookie before with her stylish pad, and I just drool. Before I met her I thought she was perfect. And then I met her and she affirmed my suspicion. She has two little girls under four and a clean and stylish house...if I didn't love her I would have to hate her. She is my pick for design maven of the year.

And lordy there is Avesta's beans and rice. I grew up eating this as a side dish over at her home and all these years I thought there was some sort of clandestine Kurdish spice that her mother had smuggled into the country that made that simple dish taste so heavenly. Nope- she gave me the recipe and we feasted last night. I think the memory of the dish does not stand alone and that is the reason I held it so high. I think it blends with all of the amazing Kurdish food form her home and well anyway, I can make it now! and so can you . Here.


I have also come to the conclusion that Whipup.net works super hard and gives us great tutorials and round ups. My pals ask me how I am so creative and I always tell em- Kathreen!
Hat's off to you Kathreen! I need to tell you how much I love ya!


I can't not talk about how much I love Legs Bell. I mean Gwen Bell. I have been learning form this gorgeous young woman a lot about the internets :) and social media and passion lately. She doesn't know it bc I suck at telling folks enough at how inspiring they are- but she is. She is.


And then there is the whole big sad thing that hangs over everything nice. I keep reading about Stephanie from nieniedialogues and how her and her husband were involved in a terrible plane crash. They have four small children and are suffering in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. I feel the same way as Kate when I think about being burned on over 80% of yr body. I cannot put this in my mind, spin it, and make it ever seem right. I cannot. Design Mom is doing a terrific thing. Please participate. This blog world is powerful when it all works together.

On Thursday I will have a cool something up for auction too! Come back and check it out? Check it out and say a prayer today for them:

Get me delivered to yr email xo

Im looking for the tower of learning

I have a zit the size of Texas on my face, Joe and I quarreled last night, and things are just not working out for me in some big ways... Yet- then there are lovely little moments like this:
We are in the amazing Australian magazine LMNOP this month. !!!
It makes me so happy. I love LMNOP! It is an amazing publication. Go check it out!
And don't forget- I do not have a winner for the small magazine contest yet- please play HERE.




We also made lovely little toy this weekend.
The Maple Bowler Hat Man Weights and Balance Toy!
You can find the Bowler Man in the shop! :)