Our Village

Hilary Clinton's book, It Takes A Village, brought the phrase to the forefront but it's based on the African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child". Regardless of where the term came from, it makes perfect sense to me and is how my close friends and family have always been.

We're each other's "village" regardless of age, taking care of one another through thick and thin, good and bad, and happy or sad times. Plain and simple-- we can count on each other and there's a calmness that comes with the knowledge that we are never alone. For me, that is deeply meaningful.

When my niece, Queen M, announced that she and hubby were having their first child, our "village" was all a-buzz and very excited. Godson, his Mom, and I are the family members living the farthest away but we went straight to work plotting what we could do for our upcoming bundle of joy.

A few months back, I teased you HERE about a project we were working on for the newest member of our "village" and finally, I can show it to you.

Using fabrics I've collected for years, the three of us designed and made an "I Spy" quilt for the Little Miss to play on when she gets a bit older. We picked bright colors and fun fabric patterns to help teach her new words, images, shapes and colors while she's exploring the "village" in the quilt.

Godson came up with the round layout-- a cul-de-sac circling loved ones together, and selected many of the fabrics for the chimneys, windows, doors, trees and sky. I did the initial applique sewing everything together and Godson's Mom did an amazing job on the actual quilting.

The quilt is one small way of welcoming the new baby into our "village" and letting her know we'll always be here supporting her.

We're pretty proud of ourselves and the way it turned out, especially since we had no idea what we were doing and had never made a quilt like this before.

New Mommy Queen M loved it and her mother (my sister) promptly reminded me that more babies are expected in the family and we should start on the next quilt as soon as we returned to Los Angeles.

But even with the excitement of Godson and I being able to deliver our quilt in person and meeting Little Miss for the first time, we had one more gift-- A gift from someone very special in our extended "village".

The wonderful Sassy Pants Freckle Face, a great blog friend, sent a baby hat for Little Miss-- How sweet is that! Sassy knows how excited I am about this newest addition to our family and her generosity and kindness touched my heart more than I can express. When I told my "village" in Ohio about Sassy, they were equally as touched and appreciative of her thoughtfulness.

This sweet bunny hat will keep our baby girl warm and cozy this coming winter and will fit her perfectly by the time the snow flies. It was really an awesome gift and we all look forward to seeing the babe decked out in blog "village" love! Thanks again Sassy-- You're the greatest.

How's your "village"?

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

Photo credit: Joanna Jenkins

Sundays In My City #42 - Clowning Around

I'm a happy member of the

Sundays In My City Community (SIMC)

hosted by the fabulous Unknown Mami.

Wanna see the world and join the fun? Click HERE.

It's been a busy few days since Godson and I returned from vacation with lots to do and catch up with. It's to the point that I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation! So what did I do???

Godson's Mom scored some free tickets to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus so we took a few friends to see the fun. We loved the circus so much last year that we didn't want to miss the thrills and excitement again this time around.

The pre-show started with a painting elephant....

Then things kicked-off with a bright, colorful, parade followed by an action-packed show. The little person in the pic was the sidekick to the Ring Master. He was our favorite clown of the show and, frankly, was more fun and had more personality than the Ring Master....

Of course there were death-defying acts and fabulous acrobats. Do not try this at home...

There were some real babes in the show too. See the little guy in front of his Mommy....

Although the tigers were gorgeous, I couldn't stop wondering why a grown *ahem*middle*aged* man would were shiny spandex tights in a cage with a bunch of tigers. It just seemed so very wrong....

After too much popcorn, cotton candy and all that clowning around, I brought this guy home with me....

We had a blast and will, hopefully, go again next year if the circus comes back to town. It was the perfect "official" end to our vacation. Now it's time to get back to work!

How's your Sunday?

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

Photo credit: Joanna Jenkins

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Intoxicated

After several glorious vacation days in Ohio with Godson to visit my family, I can honestly say I spent every second totally and completely intoxicated-- With baby love.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm smitten with my sweet, nearly seven week old, great niece and I promise not to gush too much about her, but please indulge me (again) for a moment.

Oh the smell of a new baby-- It's delicious and I drank it in every chance I got. Despite mumblings about being a "baby hog", and "Auntie monopolization", I had my hands on our happy, nearly 8 pound little girl every change I got-- Or when Godson wasn't *ahem* hogging her.

And let me tell you, Godson was amazing and held her every change he got. Little Miss is the first baby he's known, and he was a natural baby lover, I'm happy to say.

It was a grand vacation that re-energized my soul, lifted my spirits and has me aching to go back again before the snow falls, which in northern Ohio means before mid-October to be on the safe side.

Our vacation was jammed packed with everything from cow milking, ice cream eating, marshmallow roasting, water balloon tossing, puppy dog walking, and baby, family, and more baby! And by the way-- S'more made with Reese Cups instead of just chocolate are to die for!

Then, when I returned to Los Angeles, overloaded with homesickness for Ohio, I had a beautiful photographic package waiting for me from the lovely Christina at the amazing Soul Aperture. I was lucky enough to win her recent giveaway.

Photo Credit Soul Aperture

This delicate photo of Christina's-- her sweet little blue flower-- Is a flower that I grew up seeing in Ohio and that fills my folk's side yard to this day. Having Christina's generous gift waiting for me on my return was a treat beyond words.

If you don't know the beauty of Soul Aperture, please stop by and say hello. You'll be glad you did.

Now that I'm back, I'm unpacking, regrouping, and catching up on the biggest stack of mail I've seen in a long time. But, I'll be reading and catching up with everyone over the next few days. I missed you guys!

What have you been up to?

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

Photo Credit: Blue flower - Christina Soul Aperture - Don't even think of taking it without her permission!

Back Home

Attila The Mom has an update on Big Kid's health. Please stop by and cheer them on. Click HERE.

The first time Godson and I flew from California to Ohio to visit my family he was six years old. He'd never met my family before but knew all about them and had seen countless pictures over the years. My family was also well aware of Godson and already had quite a collection of photos featuring him attached to their refrigerators with magnets. That first trip was six summers ago.

He was a champ on the plane, that first time, and kept sorting through the stack of photos I'd brought to help remind him of everyone's name in our very large family. Upon arrival in Cleveland, the "welcome committee" greeted us at baggage claim and he immediately got VERY shy....

....For about 30 minutes-- Then he was part of the tribe and laughing and playing with my nieces and nephews as if they'd always known each other.

That first trip to Ohio was a real eye-opener for my little City-Slicker. My sisters have horses and that means horse poop and all things that go with a farm-- Dirt, ducks, goats, chickens, pigs, even a peacock, plus lots and lots of work. It was a little mind boggling for him at first.

Back home, the rule is, if you want to ride the horse, you have to help clean the stall before you play. Same goes for any of the other animals too. So, with a shovel bigger than he was, Godson rolled up his sleeves and did his share of "poop pushing". And he did a pretty good job, too!

The other thing about our first trip that stood out was his amazement at clothes lines-- Definitely not something we see in our Southern California community. I've been reminded of this because there have been lots of great photos with clothes pins in them around blogland lately.

Across the street from my folk's house is the side yard of their neighbor on the corner. This neighbor has a long clothes line strung from their back door, across the yard, and attached to their yellow garage. Most sunny summer days you'll see bed linens and towels clipped to the line. In the middle is a big red pole that keeps the line from sagging and the laundry for drooping onto the grass.

That first summer home, each time Godson would walk out my folks front door, he'd stop and ponder the clothes line. With his hands on his hips, his head cocked slightly to the right, he'd let out a thoughtful "hmmm" then move on down the walkway looking over his shoulder as he went.

After about three days, Godson called his mom and said, "Mama, people in Ohio have so much time they can wait around for the sun to dry their towels!" I could hear her laughing through the cell phone as she explained the clothes line is how she would dry their clothes too if they had a big enough yard... And the LA air was cleaner.

We'll be heading to Ohio this week for a family visit. We're especially excited to meet my new great-niece, my folk's new dog and to see all the family. There's a community "ice cream social", cheering on a cancer "Relay for Life" event that my nieces are participating in, river walking, a campfire with s'more, and a whole lot of laughing and quality family time in our future.

And yes, there will be more discussion about the clothes line too.... Only this time it will focus on the tiny clothes belonging to six week old Little Miss.

Our suitcases are packed with presents and treats and fun stuff to do. But the one thing I'm not packing is my laptop-- This will be a "real" vacation. So have a great week one and all while we're hanging out watching the sun dry clothes.

Do you have summer vacation plans?

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

Photo Credit" Joanna Jenkins

Sundays In My City #41 - I Love A Parade

I'm a happy member of the Sundays In My City Community (SIMC)

hosted by the fabulous Unknown Mami.

Wanna see the world and join the fun? Click HERE.

I love a parade-- even if there's only one person in it!

Happy July 4th to all my USA friends. And a great weekend to everyone else around the world.

How's your Sunday?

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor - Joanna Jenkins

In A Rut

"June Gloom" is the term used by weather gurus in Southern California for the gray skies that kick off our summer. In actuality, the gloom spills into July too but the month of June officially gets stuck with the gloomy title.

I'm fairly close to the Pacific Ocean so in addition to the constant gray haze, we get a bit of damp fog, along with the usual LA smog and dirty air too. It all adds up to decent temperatures but gloomy days..... Kinda like how I've been feeling lately.

I can't blame it all on June because the gloom has been knocking on my door for a while now. No one thing is bringing me down, but I'm in a rut that is getting deeper and deeper as time goes by despite some really joyful events in my life. Even on the rare sunny afternoons, when the gloomy gray skies burns off before the sun sets, I'm still "in the pits" as we used to say back in the 70s.

For nearly a year I've been reading Christine Forest's blog-- Doctor Forest that is. She's a successful LA psychiatrist with an easy way of explaining things that often leaves me feeling encouraged with ideas and a fresh outlook.

Today I discovered Christine is offering a free e-course titled "A Six Point Self-Guide to Healing and Happiness". It's a weekly newsletter with no strings attached and I signed up for it. I thought some of you might find it of interest too so I'm sharing the link.

Note: I was not asked to promote this program nor am I being compensated in any way. It's just that after reading Dr. Christine's blog for nearly a year, I'm confident she will provide useful and helpful information-- And maybe I'll pull myself out of this rut before summer's over.

An introduction to her course is HERE and will give you a good idea of what to expect. The e-newsletter link is in her right sidebar.

Happy weekend everyone. I hope the skies are blue and sunny in your world.

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

Photo Credit: © jeancliclac - Fotolia.com