I am going to state for the record I like an empty nest. Quite a few of my friends don't embrace it as wholeheartedly as I do.

I like everything staying where I put it. I like my mess being my mess. I like not having to be concerned about dinner. I like small amounts of laundry.

With that said, I love when the kids ARE home. I love their friends. I love the gatherings.

And, last Wednesday when Peter went back it was the first time since he went to college that I cried a little when he left. Not because I was sad, quite the opposite, I am so proud of this kid. I like him. He's a kind, considerate, fun person. He plays baseball so I probably won't see him again until May. Unless I go to a game... That's a long time to not see him live and in person.

On Monday night I dropped Bella back off. I talk to her all the time - via text, email, FB messages and calls. I am still the chauffeur, so I didn't shed tears. She too is growing, and changing, and finding her way and it isn't always easy. I am so proud of how she is handling what life is throwing at her. She'll be back in March.

While all of that was happening, so too was the death of many amazing and talented people in the arts. Their gifts are numerous and the beauty of their occupation is they do kind of live on forever. I have devoured articles, quotes, and tweets. I have watched videos galore about everyone who has died. I have learned more about David Bowie than I ever thought I cared to know about. I loved this, written by Marc Elliot on cnn.com about Glenn Frey:

I am a witness to each death. I listened to the music. I watched the movies. And in some way, I mourn for each bright star that is now shining in the heavens rather than here on earth.

The Eagles truly defined years of my life. YEARS. I wonder what music will be my kids soundtracks when they are adults? Peter's will probably be a country rap. Bella will embrace all things alternative.

I remember singing this song. LOUDLY. Mostly with Carolyn and Heidi. Feel free to sing along if you're so inclined.

​xo

I was working at the salon last Wednesday when I got a phone call from Bella on my cell. She told me water was coming out of the ceiling fan in the dining room, out of an outlet in the dining room, through the walls to the den and into the basement.

I must give a shout out to my kids who handled this along with their friend Corey - who is directly responsible for them even finding the leaks as he didn't close the front door and Bella went out to see what was going on and came upon the water show happening in the dining room. They pulled the towels and garbage bags and got to work in a hurry!

I left the salon in a flash in the very capable hands of the people who work there and found the towels and garbage pails of the house strategically placed under drips.
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I placed an urgent request on Facebook for plumbers and soon had a whole list of names. The plumber we used lives very close by and was at the house in a matter of minutes.

Jim the plumber located the problem, that teensy little pipe that froze and exploded in a baseboard in my closet. He had it fixed within 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, a friend sent me this:
Hi Maggie! Sounds like you need to order in dinner and open a bottle of wine....can I send you pizza ?

HOW sweet was that? I took her up on her offer. I went back to the salon to close out, the pizza was delivered, Liberty Mutual was called and it was arranged that the "clean up crew" would come first thing in the morning.

At 8:00 on Thursday morning Rytech showed up and using a reciprocating saw cut open the PLASTER (yeah!) ceiling and walls and pulled down the ceiling tiles in the den. They ran five loud fans upstairs and downstairs and hooked up two ginormous humidifiers. The one in the closet made the upstairs so hot I ran the A/C so I could sleep. (This is comedy.) They came at 9:00 this morning to take back all the loud equipment. I did tell them the mess they left before leaving was too much. He apologized, but really, do you think he even cares? I doubt it, he has other homes to get to.

AND, because life is perfect, on Friday I spoke to Kacey's husband Mike about fixing up this horror show. He is a brilliant contractor. 
Kacey's dad Moe helped build this house when it was first built; we've come full circle. I will look forward to no holes in the house.

So...how was YOUR week?!

​xo

Handel's Water Music because at least it should SOUND pretty!

https://youtu.be/uCD0GLyYJEI

It helped that six weeks prior to Christmas Day a small group of women gathered under the gentle guidance of the amazing Cathy Anesi to support each other through the typical madness and mayhem that is Thanksgiving through New Year's. The timing of the group was impeccable (well played, Cathy) and the women were marvelous. On our last visit before the new year we went over what we were grateful for in 2015. Coincidentally, I just so happened to have this delightful pad to share with the women. The link to get one for yourself, or any of her other Gratipads is available by clicking on the picture.

We have had days of visiting with family and with friends. We celebrated NYE as we have done for the past 8 years with dear friends.

The kids had their own event at our house. The Magic Basement was converted from a place of la-la to a Scattagories and a Pong Tournament space. I woke up this morning to bodies sleeping on every couch and chair in the house. I am grateful my kids are happy to be here, their friends are happy to be here and that they are responsible enough to sleep here and then head en masse to the diner for breakfast/lunch/whatever.

As you may (or may not) recall I had the great Stampin' Up! purge from the Magic Basement nearly two years ago. I got rid of so many crafting supplies I could have honestly opened my own store. I have been trying to keep up the purging and have been fairly successful. A lot of stuff from the kids playroom (yes, it's still called the playroom) was upcycled to a local nursery school. A massive amount of stuff was thrown out. Peter is moving into a house next year and so, there is a garage full of things for he and his buddies to load onto a U-Haul and be quasi set.

Another thing I am doing is getting rid of the hundreds of CDs I have collected over the years and frankly, not listened to in probably five years. Pandora and iTunes allow me to customize what I love and listen to, so why take up all the space of CDs. Enter the app, decluttr. Using your phone, you scan in the bar codes from your music CDs, games and movies, and they tell you what they will pay you. You box it. You print a shipping label - THEY PAY FOR SHIPPING (!), and then you bring it to your local UPS store. How convenient that my local store is four doors down from the salon. THEN, they send you a check. Sweet Baby James, I don't care that it's an average of 0.3¢ per CD. That's more than I got for them just sitting here gathering dust. I still need to figure out what to do with the CDs that don't have bar codes or that they don't take, but in the meantime I am delighted to be down 237 CDs and counting.

There is a great blog piece I came across last week entitled 200 Things to Throw Away. It's not a scary list at all. I took a look at it and I have begun and/or have done an awful lot that is on the list already. Since it's the first of the year, I thought I would share it. We'll compare notes NEXT January to see how we all did.

I am reading Shonda Rhime's tremendous book Year of Yes. Her writing is as amusing and genius as her TV shows. It is THE perfect book to start the New Year off on. Slay your dragons, kiss away your fears and just say yes to that which scares you. I highly recommend it.

I am not a resolution maker. I never have been. I do set intentions now and again. And I write stuff down because frankly, once it's "out there" in the universe I can just wait for stuff to happen. I am realistic enough to know I have to work hard too. I think hard work coupled with a purpose is a powerful combination.

Here's to 2016. May it be magical. May it be abundant. May it keep bodies and minds healthy. And may love be the strongest force we share. I look forward to greater connections and lots of inspiration from the people I learn from. May your inner light shine bright.

xo

I love this duo. Their music is so gorgeously soothing.
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https://youtu.be/vKx7Sg-bYv0