4 fevers (the girls are getting better, though.... yesterday they were 103, 102, 101. Today they are hovering around 99.7 to 100ish, so that's a welcome surprise), 3 1/2 colds later, a migraine headache and stuffiness from the only male in the household, there's a mix of snow and rain going on outside, so welllll.... the MacKenzie household is holding on, anyway. Today it's all about maintanence. Today it's about getting dirty dishes off the counter, sanitizing the bathroom, vacuuming the floor and drinking tons and tons of orange juice and tea. It's about not giving in to what the emotions want (poor me... I'm sick, I can't do anything, blah, blah, blah....) and staying on top of everything.

So besides a fun pick me up--->


I found this, too:


and discovered a couple of really good quotes to think of throughout the day. Hope that maybe you did, too!!!

Cheers! ~MacKenzie

Ah yes, the day after Easter. Very much like the day following any major holiday. The girls are overtired, fussy, off their sugar high from yesterday. And the grandparents even really toned it down (Thank you!!!) By the way, why does it seem like.... 7 out of 10 chances, one of the kids is bound to get sick over a holiday??? This time around it's Pumpkin. Sore throat, sniffling, upset stomach..... sigh....

I don't know. In some ways, it just didn't feel like Easter yesterday. I kept trying to grasp a hold of that feeling that I think of as Easter and for moments it felt like I at least had it by one hand, but I really yearned for that full "wash over the entire body" feeling.

Yesterday afternoon we took a ride to an Animal rescue shelter to visit a horse that Mom C and Papa were considering. He was a cute Norwegian Fjord, tall for the breed, but unfortunately, he has the terrible habit of nipping, sometimes biting people. Loves people, but he's like a spoiled little brat if he doesn't get his way. As they are somewhat new to the horsey game, they didn't feel this was the best horse to start out with. With the right person who has the time to devote to him and work with him, he's going to be fantastic. Wish we were it, but with the girls and his unpredictability, I'm sort of glad that they made the choice they did.

Then we stopped by to visit Pumpkin's riding instructor and Ms. M. I have never seen a pregnant mare before so I can't really say how big she was, but wow... her belly is so tight and hard. It's amazing. Ms. M got extra treats and loves from me, especially. She only has a few weeks left.

The day ended with me working on my quilt. I was able to get to Bangor and basically find my background fabric that I was short on. It seems to be the slightest shade darker, but that could just be me, fretting....

So today, my main objective is to try and get the house back to normal once again so that tonight after everyone is in bed, I can relax and do whatever it is I feel like doing tonight.. okay, might as well say quilting....

Thank you everyone who sent Easter greetings. They were all wonderful and very much appreciated!!!!



Cheers! ~MacKenzie

*photobucket Sunrise

If Christmas was the beginning of the Divine's promise, then I find, for myself anyway, that Easter is the fulfillment of that Promise.

I still have the memory of being a young girl woken in the dark on Easter morning. My family and I bundled up and hopped in the car. A member of the church we attended had a pretty little summer cottage on the lake facing the east. There the congregation met to sing songs together, pray and watch the sun rise on Easter morning. Simply put, it was amazing. I can't describe the intensity of feeling that as a young child I felt moving through, at that time, some of the most important people in my life.



I don't exactly consider myself to be "mainstream" religious. The Divine and I have a really ...unique... relationship going on. How do I put this? I feel that the Divine has left universal guidelines and clues on how to share a phenomenal bond and it's unique to every single person. Somehow, I manage messing up ALL THE TIME!!!! After certain events in my life, I just can't seem to get back that relationship that I once had and I know it's me holding me back because of my fears and perceptions. I am working on it though, and someday I will find that button, phrase, or moment that makes everything somehow click once again.



As a young teenager, I sometimes sang with 3 of my other friends during church services. New congregation, new church, but feeling the four of us together with a thought greater than our collective selves still makes my pulse begin to beat faster when I bring myself back to those moments. The following is a song that we sang during one of the Easter services:



Strangely I always seem to find myself humming that tune suddenly around this time of year.



Every Easter morning, I do my best to wake up just before sunrise. If I'm lucky enough, I will have time to make fresh coffee. And then, I go and face the east and watch the sunrise and contemplate. I let myself wander, yet keep myself grounded just enough so that I see how the ~hopefully sun if it's a nice day~ breaks over the horizon and floods the house with light. Sun...Son... oh the play with words.....

May you find blessing, wonder, a voice, peace, a new perspective, a gentle touch, a moment of give and receive with the Divine, whatever it is you need with the promise of fulfillment tomorrow.



Sincerely ~MacKenzie

What Your Easter Egg Says About You

You are whimsical, spontaneous, and fun loving. You connect well with people, but nature is your true love. Changing locations and scenery is important to your creativity. You are inspired by the surroundings around you

It should be an easy pick.... the one that stands out, click it. However, what happens if you just love two of them????? Oh well... today, this lovely little Easter Egg is mine. Wonder what's inside????









Cheers! ~MacKenzie

Well... the calendar indicates that this may be the first day of spring. Good thing they told me. Actually, I have NOTHING to complain about. We were supposed to get snow, and we're getting rain instead. Unfortunately with the temps hovering around 33, sometimes the rain seems mixed with snow. Honey was supposed to drive to the middle of Maine today for a meeting, but I hope he's going to cancel. They seem to have the snow and mix thing going on.

I don't know how I did it but when I sat down last night to start sewing my quilt fabric into squares according to the directions, I realized that I didn't have enough of my background fabric. This is my quilt that I am working on for class. I keep falling further and further behind. Some people actually have their quilt top done all ready!!!!! And everyone at least has started sewing! ARRGHHH!!!! The good thing is that I found this fabric in Bangor. The bad thing is that I don't know if I'm going to be able to get up there before the next class. If that's the case, I'm pretty much "dead in the water" with this project putting me even further behind.

This is a photobucket pic of the quilt design I'm working on:


As you can see, the creamy background plays an intricate part of piecing the whole thing together. Nearly every other square has background fabric attached to it. For whatever reason, I keep making ridiculous errors on this quilt. And, where I've all ready started putting some of it together, if I can't find the background fabric, I'll have to go with a new one. If I have to go with a new one, the pieces that I have already made, I won't be able to use for this quilt because obviously the background has to match for this one.

When starting out, you had to choose 8 coordinating fabrics (think middle star), the background and two border fabrics. Well.... if I have to go with a new background, I won't have enough fabric (seeing as I've all ready put some together and the way these are made, it would be very difficult to take them apart and get an even square for the next one. Okay, probably it could be done, but... wow.. very overwhelming for a beginner like me to get that to work right.) to have the 8 coordinating fabrics, so I would have to choose at least two more coordinating fabrics to make up the 8. Did ya get that because suddenly even I think I'm confused!!!! Sorry everyone! It's one of those days where the processing plant in my brain is running overtime and I can't keep up with it all.

Okay... maybe I just have to slow down a minute. There's really no sense to panic or get all frustrated. Yes? of course.... Best case scenario: Somehow I can get up to Bangor within the next two days and walk into the store with my background fabric sample and there will be a little sparkling spotlight shining down from above with an arrow "MacKenzie... LOOK HERE"!!!! And there the background will be and everything will be wonderful. (Or, after a little searching, I'll still find it....)

Worse case scenario: I can't find the background which means I'll have to choose another one and in choosing another one, I'll have to choose two more coordinating fabrics to make up for the ones I've already started sewing. I guess I shouldn't complain because at least I'll be adding to the fabric stash!!!!!! (as long as my budget allows it....) And... the pieces that I've already made, I can probably cut down to the size of the quilt squares that I'm working on separately from the class. A little more work, BUT... I could look at it that I've just added 8 more pieces to the 78 that I needed for that one. That's a nice thought. I'm also thinking that I hate to work with patterns. Maybe the patchwork designs that I think up in my head is the way to go. I'm having fun with my "freestyle" project. This class one? Well, hopefully will get better.

I'm rambling today, aren't I? Sorry. I knew I wanted to write, and was hoping that after I started it would get easier as I latched on to something. I also woke up this morning with the urge to snuggle down under a soft warm blanket and read. Unfortunately, I'm not reading any "fun" books at the moment. I've got two that Honey wants me to read, a "be a better parent" one that I started reading and it's good, but not exactly what I want for today, a learn more about horses one (written more like a training manual than anything else), a book about companion gardening, one of those "self help" ones, and technically a fun one but I've read that three times all ready so I know the ending. I want something DIFFERENT. I wish the library was open today because I'd go. Our local library is open less than 10 hours a week, hours being split between Wednesday and Saturday.



And a bit more color to brighten the day...
Cheers! ~MacKenzie