Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

The last 10 days have been somewhat of a blur. This surgery has been as hard as the first one, which should come as no surprise since the first one was really hard, too. I told my doctor when he advised I take this route (ACL reconstruction w/additional procedure to remove arthritis from my knee cap) that I was loathe to do this again because it was so painful. He assured me that the process of ACL reconstructions has been streamlined and are not as painful as they were in the past. While that may be true, he failed to mention that the Oates procedure (the knee cap thing) is also incredibly painful! I decided to go ahead with the surgery hoping that it will eliminate the need for a full knee replacement in the future. In any case, I'm moving slowly and doing far less than I thought I would be by now. I know, I know, you all are making a point to tell me that slowing down is not a bad thing and while I agree with you, a dead stop is not good either.

Dave is going like crazy taking care of things I need, getting ready for Christmas, and working. It's hard letting go of things that are part of your holiday traditions but there is just so much that can happen in a day. I baked and did all my shopping before I had surgery so short of addressing Christmas cards and wrapping a few presents, my holiday tasks are done. I would have liked to baked more cookies to deliver to our neighbors and I'm missing some of the social festivities as I just can't be out and about right now. It is what it is. What about you, are you ready?

On a really fun note,I made my debut as an artist last week. My RiverLights Originals artwork is on display at Tango Frozen Yogurt in downtown Auburn. I haven't been able to go in and see it for myself yet, but I am tickled pink that my artwork is actually on public display. I printed note cards and sold out almost immediately (my first customer was someone who does not even know me - she bought all 3 sets the retailer had!) and I have seven 2012 calendars still available. You can see the images in the calendar at Facebook.com/RiverLightsOriginals

Merry Christmas friends, I feel so grateful that you are in my life even if it is a Christmas card once a year, a weekly e-mail exchange or something more frequent. I hope you have a Christmas that is exactly as you want it to be, and if not, I wish you the ability to accept peacefully what it is and move on. With love, Kathy

Monday Motivator...sort of.

Hi friends,

My knee surgery went well but the recovery has been slow. I know it's only been 4 days, but I thought for sure I would be up for writing a little weekly email... not so much. Tonight I'm writing this before bed because when I don't send my Monday Motivator it weighs on me, like that thing that needs doing, know what I mean? So off to bed I go hoping tomorrow will put me 'round the corner and on the upswing! Merry Christmas and I'll have something cheerier next week. Sweet dreams, Kathy

Cookie Factory!

The cookie factory is open! Yes, I completely forgot to write my Monday Motivator because I was up to my candy eyeballs in butter, flour, sugar, and sparkly sugars in every color o the rainbow! I have all of my shopping done (except for one thing I ordered and have to pick up), presents wrapped, and I'm almost done with cookies and candy. I know what you are thinking, WOW! She's Super Woman in the organization department!, not so much, I can't find a gift I bought for my sister just two weeks ago! I am ahead of the game this year because I am having knee surgery on Friday and it's going to be a bigger deal with some grafting an plugging (it's all so technical!). Anything I want to do that requires me to stand and be moving with my hands and feet needs to be done before Friday. With all that said, what are you doing to celebrate the holidays? Do you decorate your house with more than a tree? Our tree this year is a Whooville tree, the trunk is literally curved with the tip-top and bottom of the trunk lining up while the body of the tree curves to the left. It's full and beautiful, 11 feet tall, and has character.


I'm sad that this is my last week of school for the semester. I love being a student and being immersed in a group of younger people and even a few my own age and older. It's a nice infusion of current culture and what a younger generation is thinking and honestly, I'm impressed. So many of these twenty-somethings that appear to be non-conforming, really care about our country, their future, and they are amazingly informed. I have many Russian immigrants in my classes as well, and more of the same,incredibly grateful to be in America, being or in the process of becoming Americans, and in some cases, they are more versed on American/world politics that those of us born and raised here. All in all, it's a blast! I am completely grateful that I have the opportunity to be back in school getting an education, it's just plain fun.


I hope you are all on track to have the happiest holiday season ever, filled with love and laughter of good friends. I will let you know next Monday how it all went and I expect I will have a good idea of my bounce-back time. Have a great week and lots of love!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! It's official, the holiday season is here. I like Happy Holidays for a greeting, too, but today I feel like Merry Christmas! Our Thanksgiving was really lovely and Dave outdid himself in the kitchen. As usual, we did our big meal on Saturday and thank goodness, there is no way Dave would have been able to pull off all he did if he had to have it done for Thursday. I hope you had as nice a holiday as we did.


On Sunday, Dave and I managed to get the Saturday mess cleaned up, carpets shampooed, Thanksgiving decorations down, and Christmas lights and garlands hung. We bought a tree, put it up and plan to decorate it tonight. I'm not usually in such a hurry to get Christmas up but I'm having what I hope will be my final knee surgery in two weeks. I expect to be less mobile through Christmas so if I need to do it, it needs to be done now - decorations, cookies, and cards will be on the list to get done prior to December 9th. What about you, are you in the holiday spirit yet?


On another fun note, it looks like may have my first art show for RiverLights before Christmas. The details are still being ironed out, but I'll keep you posted. I hope you have a great week and remember, you can't always control what comes your way, but you can control how you react, or not. Keep your cool and make this holiday season exactly what you want it to be!


Love, Kathy

Magnificent Colors!

Hi Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm not sure how it has been where you live, but I believe we are having the most magnificent fall season I've ever seen in northern California. There is color everywhere and so many reds, yellows, oranges and I just love the trees that show all colors at once. Sometimes as I am driving along, my heart races at the way the sun illuminates the colors of the trees. It really does excite me.

I'm counting my blessing this week and a big one is that my family is safe and healthy. I'm pleased that so many of our men and women are coming home from Iraq and would like to see all the other countries on that list as well. I'm grateful that I have been able to go back to college this year, it's been a wonderful time. My gratitude list is long and it includes our friendship. I've opened my eyes to the importance of nurturing healthy, supportive relationships and letting go of the ones that do anything else. The idea that we need to be in relationships that do anything else, regardless of time or relationship is ridiculous. Trust your gut because you know the truth.


I hope you have the best Thanksgiving weekend ever and you get to be with people who lift you up and make you feel more like the person you strive to be. It's my position that you are already way more of who you want to be and you simply can't see it! With so much love!

Happy Fall Y'all!

It's almost Thanksgiving and even in these tough times, we all have much to be thankful for. I try to practice gratitude all year long, but I feel especially fortunate around the holidays. Dave and I have been enjoying a double dose of the fall colors and even getting an early start on prepping the Christmas decorations. We are already seeing the calendar fill up with holiday parties, school functions and all the things we want to do as a family.



Loving this time of year like I do, it was fitting that we went to Twin Peaks Farm over the weekend for the opening of mandarin season. The colors of fall were everywhere, the persimmons were delicious, but those darn mandarins are just not ready yet! Next weekend is the Mountain Mandarin Festival and it looks like we will not only have rain (with low snow predicted), but the mandarins will be very early season - that means more tart, less sweet. It's a bit of a bummer for the festival and all the people who travel to Auburn to buy their mandarins, but for us locals, it just means our sweet mandarin season will last a little longer. Last year I was sending them to my father-in-law in late January! I've got my recipes ready, as do Dave and Mason, next weekend we will see if I can hold on to my first place title or take home the grand prize! I'll let you know on Monday.


I am studying for finals and with the exception on one on line class, I am sailing through with all A's. The class that is in question could still be an A, but I missed an assignment and can't seem to find my footing. Keep your fingers crossed that an unexpected extra-credit opportunity will present itself in the next week or two. Hey, a girl can hope! If my calculations are correct, I could be graduating this time next year with my AA Degree.



Now I'm off to a parent-teacher conference where I expect to hear, "Mason is so darn smart, if only he could sit still and do his work." Much like my mom heard only where Mrs. Beckler says, "...do his work," my teacher said, "...not talk so much." Happy Holidays friends, I'm grateful for you and all the other wonderful people around me everyday! Make this week something to talk about.

Be The Change

The sun is out and it is a gorgeous fall day! It rained all weekend and frankly, I loved it! We had a fire going, I did lots of cooking and baking, seasonal decorating, and of course there were chores to do. Dave had drill this weekend so I'm sure he's feeling like he had no weekend at all.




As the holidays are fast approaching, what are you planning to do for holiday gifts? I sent out an e-mail that I received from my Aunt Jeannette about centering your gifts around local merchants. This goes beyond just shopping at local stores, but buying services from small businesses for people who could really use them. Dave has always been really good at this, not only shopping at little mom and pop gift shops, but he has given me a facial, a massage, and gift certificates to the nail salon where I like to go. BEST GIFTS EVER!! I love the idea of gift certificates for auto service, car washes, and finding businesses run by young people. Think babysitting -Uh, this one is GREAT! Computer work done by the people who know computers better than any of us old folks - high school kids. What about a local bookkeeper to track your small business (or family) finances? It just may be more affordable than you think.


Finally, I'm using this forum to shamelessly plug my original art, RiverLights Originals. All of you know I spent much of this summer painting river rocks and photographing them under water. Some of my images are of rocks out of the water as well. I even took one of my favorite rocks to New England and came home with some beautiful fall images. I've posted pictures on my blog and you can also find more on my Facebook page at RiverLights Originals. I have note cards ($1.00 each), calendars ($20 each), prints (4x6 - 20x30), and prints on canvas and metal. They really are quite nice.


With that, what are your holiday plans? Will you be traveling or staying close to home? Whatever your plans, I wish you peace and positivity. When you encounter poor customer service or the Scrooges that are bound to make themselves heard, be the change you want to see. Find something positive in every interaction and shake off the dark sledge that wants to hang on and weigh you down.

We all have so much to be thankful for, find a few things today and concentrate on the good. Happy Monday!