Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of this peace'
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to to love
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

Chocolate

At work today we had a visit from our district manager, so our office manager made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. She was serving up generous squares of it when I walked into the break room at 9:30 a.m. and said, "Hey there, Miss Jean! Do you eat chocolate?"

I said, "Mae, Mae, Mae. Do I eat chocolate? Is the Pope Catholic?"

Apparently she'd never heard that saying before. I love it when I can get a laugh with old material. (Where I used to live in New England, that saying was so old it didn't get a rise out of anyone. Instead of invoking the Pope, people would say, "Does a bear go ca-ca in the woods?")

Speaking of old sayings. When asked her preference, my mom's dear friend Dorothy used to say, "Any color as long as it's blue. Any flavor as long as it's chocolate."

There are lots of sayings about chocolate, but I can't think of a better, more succinct one than that. Unfortunately, you can't read the saying in this photo very well because of the flash (I believe I've mentioned before what a terrible photographer I am), but you get the general idea, anyway.

This post is hereby dedicated to Dorothy Bailey Smith. Rest in peace, Dorothy, and thanks again for teaching me to slather butter on Danish pastry.

The Lord's Prayer (brown/gold color scheme)

I have photographed this one several times, and it always comes out looking crooked, which it is not. I think my artistic talent is greater than my photographic talent.

Java Jive

I just cannot face the day without my iced latte (fat free milk, sugar free caramel, and 2 Splenda, please.)

Button Teapot

One of the first songs I learned to sing as a child was this:

I'm a little teapot

Short and stout

Here is my handle

Here is my spout.

When the kettle's boiling

Hear me shout

Tip me up

And pour me out.

I was certainly short and stout, and would act out the part of the teapot, using one arm for the handle and the other arm for the spout. Even more fun than singing that song was illustrating it with this colorful design that features buttons and seed beads.

Sugar and spice and everything nice

Sugar and spice

And everything nice

That's what little girls are made of.