Christmas Preparation

What is it? You may be asking yourself that and the answer is...

It's a Jackie Terrell original...

Christmas Tree Stand.

I have this problem with Christmas trees and stands and remaining vertical. The trees don't fall over - not since I started bolting the stands into a 4 by 4 piece of plywood - but the stands bend. The poles bend. There's a lot of bending. This is NOT a desireable function of a Christmas tree and its accoutrements.

This afternoon my brother, Jackie, built me an official, industrial strength, Christmas tree stand. This will NOT bend. I'm certain of it. If it does, even I need to rethink how I do Christmas trees.

It was quite the process, but he whipped it together with things he had lying around in his shop.

There was cutting...



drilling...



measuring...



and welding.



And then I had a cool, wonderful, extra heavy duty, Christmas Tree Stand. He even spray painted it. He's a full service, brother, I tell you.

I'm so excited I'm nearly beside myself. Yes, I know, this may not seem like something that's that big of a deal. But, I have an entire circuit in my house that's devoted to one outlet specifically for the Christmas tree.

I realize not everyone requires the services of an electrician and now a welder for their Christmas tree, but it's so pretty and sparkly.

2005 Tree



2006 Tree

I've been reading through some old blog posts lately, with the idea of making a compilation of favorite posts. Of course, I've been thinking about that for over a year and it hasn't happened. But, hope springs eternal, it could. It might. It will.

In looking back through old live journal posts, I found this one from three years ago - almost exactly three years ago - that I posted on 9/17/2004. I was working on a speech, which I still give, about how to increase your happiness level. Oddly enough, it's not something most people are too interested in. I think it's the "forgiveness" part that trips them up. But... just in case it's something you might be interested in... here is the outline.

This is all based on science - not just Patsy making stuff up.

Here's the post:

Happiness - It's Yours for the Learning
We are all born with a "set point" of happiness, but we now know that it is also a learned behavior and just because someone isn't born that way, they can be that way if they chose to be. Genetics determine about 50%.

Important in learning to be happy:
1. Meditation
2. Journaling (esp. gratitude)
3. Fake it till you make it. Faking happiness causes the same chemical reactions as BEING happy and eventually will create the happiness. Actions matter - act happy.
4. Surrounding yourself with friends and family is a huge factor in increasing happiness.
5. Having your own sense of self and no interest in keeping up with the Joneses is helpful.
6. Doing activities that put you in the "flow" where you lose sense of time and enjoy it, increases overall happiness. The more of those you have, the better off you are. Doing what you're best at.
7. Must have a capacity to love and be loved.
8. Altruism
9. Spirituality
10. Creativity

Damaging to happiness:
1. not forgiving - huge - the biggest stumbling block - the single biggest determining factor in someone's happiness level
2. materialism

Surprises:
1. Major health problems, such as loss of mobility, have no long term effect on people's general happiness. After about 90-180 days they return to their pre-incident level of daily happiness.
2. People are very bad at predicting what will make them happy. Better to trust human resilience than human prediction.
3. More choices you have the more likely you are to be unhappy. People feel with so many choices, there's no excuse for failure. Choices also make people question every decision.
4. Happiness comes mostly in daily little bits. People get thrills out of finding a quarter or getting an unexpected gift. The emotion actually makes them more generous, friendlier, flexible, creative and better at solving problems. Small bursts of this feeling caused radiologists to make more accurate diagnoses in one study.

Quote of the Day

I am always doing what I can't do yet, in order to do it.
~Van Gogh


I was reading some old journal entries today from before I came over to blogger and ran across this one. It struck me anew so thought I'd post it again.

This is me, in a nutshell. I like to do different things - knit, paint, ride 844, go to Quebec, whatever. But, once I know how to do them or have experienced them, I'm done, unless it was an incredible, amazing, unbelieveable experience that I want to repeat. I love to paint, and no doubt always will. I like to knit on occasion, but it's not any big deal. I have no great urge to do it perfectly - just like to do it.

The perfection thing is the key. I'm content to just "do" whatever it is. I don't need to do it "right" or "perfectly," I just want to "do." And then I want to do the next thing.

It's yet another conundrum in my life. Because there are other areas of my life where I'm so "stable." When I'm involved in a serious relationship I have eyes for no one else. Greg told me once that when I'm involved I just give off NO vibes. And I'm very content.

With work I tend to stay in a job for a long time. I may change what exactly I do in that job, but I tend to stay somewhere for extended times.

But, with less serious things, I'm content to just try it and see how it goes. Of course, that's usually how I get into those relationships and jobs now that I think about it. I guess maybe they just work for me - like painting or travel - and I want to keep at it. Obviously food for more thought.

Fair Time Over for 2007

Another milestone has passed - the Kansas State Fair for 2007 has ended. Mark was down this weekend, but not feeling up to taking in the fair, which is very unusual.

He took off about 10 this morning. He had a 2:30 doctor's appointment in KC. It's a pity he couldn't stay longer, but there are always so many places to be. I often have the feeling that I should be at least 2-3 places, and want to be at most of them. Unfortunately, I can only be at one at a time, and that seems to not be enough most of the time. I can't figure out why this is, but it seems to be that way.

Tonight at dinner I was talking to Terry and Greg and we were talking about other art shows. I realized I have something all but two weekends the rest of the year. How does my life get so overscheduled when I'm consciously trying to make it not that way? But there are always things to do - from seeing the Governor at the fair to any number of other things.

I think I mentioned the Governor was here on Thursday. She always has a day when she's at the Kansas State Fair. She kicks it off with a chamber breakfast that morning and then tours around a bit on the grounds.

The Kansas State Fairgrounds have had some major improvements in the last few years, which is great. It was in need of some updating.

Of course, there are always things that get changed that I don't like and one of those for the faigrounds was a consolidated food court area, instead of the individual placees dotted over the complex.

But, they've kept the agrarian nature of the fair, which I love. I want to always be able to see jellies and giant pumpkins and such.

This year's giant pumpkin winner was 976 plus pounds, more than 300 pounds over the record at the Kansas State Fair. There were four entries, and three of them were from families named "Stanley" in Newton. I'm guessing they're related, but I don't know.



And if you were wondering what champion peppers look like, here are Jim Hoover's of Hutchinson. I need to call Jim and ask him his secret. My peppers never get more than the foot tall they are when I put them in every year. Eventually I pull them up and throw them away. Jim, on the other hand, has produced some lovely specimens.



All kinds of produce is competing...





In the last couple of years, there has been a scarecrow competition. Cindy Ward of Hutchinson won this year.

I slept 10 hours last night - practically unheard of for me. That's about two night's sleep for me, instead of one. But, considering I got up at 2 a.m. to go to the Hillsboro show, and stayed up until 10 last night, it's understandable I would need some sleep.

This morning I went to breakfast with Mark and then I started unloading the van. I hate the hauling. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. I hate loading. I hate unloading. I hate hauling. But, I made a dent in it today - didn't get finished, but accomplished some of it.

And, I started doing the laundry. Every tablecloth we took with us was soaked, of course, due to the torrential rain that fell all day. Not sure if I mentioned in yesterday's post that the sun came out just as we were getting ready to unload and was bright enough that I had to squint all the way home. It was in the 90s today, but not above 50 yesterday. Delightful.

We were out in it all day, of course. Mia and I were miserable. Greg snapped a photo of us near the end of the day. You know why we're looking happy? Because it's about over.



Otherwise, today was pretty laid back. Greg, Mia and I did go to the fair to see Ron Diamond, the hypnotist. I'd seen a couple of his shows earlier this week. He's always wonderful.

Tonight there were about 10 people in the audience that went under. I've never seen that many. It was a good show.

One of the routines he has people do sometimes is he'll ask all the men to believe they are finalists in a body building competition and give their best moves. Tonight one guy ripped his wife beater in half as part of his competition. It was hilarious. Fortunately, he was a guy you didn't mind seeing with his shirt off.

Another of my favorite routines is when he has them pretend they're the village people and plays YMCA. It's just as funny as you would imagine.

The Kansas State Fair wrapped up tonight after 10 full days. I always enjoy it on multiple levels. I took some more photos, which hopefully I'll get to share over the next few days, but I decided the grand champion wheat would be critical since this is Kansas and all.



Cross Bell Farms of Deerfield, Kansas won the grand champion ribbon. Will Frusher of Ness City, Kansas is the Reserve Grand Champion. You can't have a fiar without ribbons and wheat. And ribbons on wheat.

Hillsboro Arts and Crafts Fair is a Misnomer

We did the Hillsboro, Kansas Arts and Crafts Fair today. Once is enough for me. It is really a craft fair, despite what their publicity would lead you to believe. The people on one side of us were selling things like 6 feet tall stuffed moose with blue jeans on, and they were moving them.

It was a miserable day. It rained... no... poured... all day long until we were leaving town and then the sun was in my eyes bad I could barely see. I don't think it ever got above 50. This wouldn't have been so bad if I had been prepared for it. But the weather forecast was for a 30% chance of scattered thundershowers in the early morning, then clearing and in the 70s. Liars. It was cold and wet all day. I think it's the most miserable I've ever been physically due to weather for that long of a time.

Jocelyn did "poorly" according to her and Mia and I certainly didn't sell much - Mia more than me. I didn't lose any money but it's certainly not worth the time and effort to ever do it again, unless I start making benches with "Grandma's Garden" on them and that is not likely to happen.

The bright spot of the day was getting to meet and talk with blog reader, Deb. That was delightful.

I'm so tired after getting up at 2 a.m. to get there and get set up that I'm about to fall over. So... off to bed for me. I only wish my electric blanket was hooked up. I'll have to make do. I'm too tired to get it out.

Long Day

It has been a long day, starting with the governor's speech at the chamber breakfast meeting. Unfortunately, what we largely heard was other people talking about things I had no interest in instead of listening to the governor. They kept making announcements, including a long spiel about a Prairie Dunes event, instead of letting the governor talk. The reason there is a big turnout is because we want to see the governor. Duh. If the governor weren't there it would be the same crowd it usually is - much smaller. It was really rude to the governor. I don't know what the chamber was thinking.

But the day had some fun parts too. I had lunch with Trish and dinner with Sondra, so I worked in some friends.

I just finished up in the studio. I did a couple more things tonight I hadn't planned on. But, I just have about an hour of finish work tomorrow and they'll be ready to go. Of course, I have to pack things into the van and be ready to go. We're thinking of going over about 3 a.m. I never thought I'd be saying the phrase, "we need to leave by 3 at the latest" and be referring to 3 a.m.

I'm already in bed and it's very early for me. My plan is to get up very early in the morning and then go to bed very early tomorrow night so I'm somewhat with it on Saturday. I'm sure it will be an experience. Hopefully a good one.

This evening was a productive one. Jocelyn came over with some things she wants me to carry in the van to the Hillsboro show for her and we talked for quite some time. She has been very helpful to me in figuring things out for the show.

I've got everything ready to go as far as pricing and such. I will do a couple more things tomorrow night and then that's it. I don't want to be up all night on Friday. In fact, Jocelyn and I were talking tonight that we are going to go over in the wee hours of the morning to set up. She said her Aunt has been before and although the show techincally starts at 9 that people are shopping by 7. So, we want to be prepared.

I also got to have dinner with Susan tonight. She's in town for the fair, helping at her husband's booth, and we had hoped to find a night for dinner. Hopefully I'll get to see her yet again this week. I sure miss having her in town.

Today I got the notice about the St. John tea. I'm looking forward to going. Jan, Julie and Susan and I are going. I tried to think of everyone I knew who is into tea - that goes to the MHA teas or that I know from other tea experiences and I came up with six people. So, four out of six available isn't bad. Julie and I have been before, but not anyone else as far as I know. It should be fun. Hard to believe early November is only six weeks away.

I know the rest of the year is going to zip by. I will start decorating for Christmas soon. Yeah, I know. But I like Christmas and I don't want to miss the season by having everything left to do then.

Autumn has arrived

Autumn has arrived, without so much as a warning. Suddenly, temperatures are not even reaching into the 80s most days and weather forecasters are saying we're done with the hot weather for this year. It was just a couple of weeks ago that we were baking in the unrelenting sun, and it seemed that would never end.

I'm not complaining at all. I like that distinctive feel of a fall day - a little breeze constantly stirring the air and a crispness that has been missing for months. It's lovely. I just needed a bit gentler approach to the changing season. I'm accoustomed to first seeing the sumac, then noticing with surprise the leaves starting to turn even while temperatures are still hot.Only after that am I ready for the forecasters to start saying we're done with hot temperatures for the year.

It's not that I want any more hot temperatures, but I do want to mark the seasons. We seem to have gone from the height of summer to the middle of fall, with little inbetween. There was no tapering off, no ramping up. It was as if the calendar page turned and mother nature noticed and complied immediately.

One of the things I know about myself, that was crystallized when I worked with a life coach, is that I need time to get used to things. I need to process them at my own speed. This is a blessing and a curse. But, it just is. Maybe this is the reason I need the seasons to change gradually, so I grow used to the idea that we're moving on.

I also like to anticipate. I love each season in its own way, and I like to anticipate its arrival. Anticipation is a huge happiness for me.

The seasons also note the marching on of time. I'm reminded of how we can so easily forget to live our days, and end up wishing them away instead.

September 11

Today is September 11, a date that acquired a new meaning six years ago. I don't know how many years it will be before it doesn't have the same effect, but it won't be in my lifetime. People still think of Pearl Harbor Day, so I know that 9-11 will have this meaning the rest of my life, and probably far beyond.

I am very concerned that we seem to "celebrate" this day a bit too much. And we "glorify" it in some ways. There are always incredible stories of heroism in any tragedy and they're compelling. I am just as touched as everyone else when I see them.

But, when I hear phrases like "greatest American tragedy" I bristle. First of all, I don't want to classify tragedies as "great" or... what... "less than great?" Second, there are other tragedies I would consider in the running for "greatest" - they certainly involve more people.

There are children dying of hunger - yes, in the United States. Worldwide, 18,000 children die every day of hunger. Every day. That is a tragedy. There are elderly Americans who suffer because they don't have sufficient heat or air conditioning, medication or food. There are homeless people who's only crime is losing the health lottery and having a mental illness in a country that doesn't believe in treating people who aren't employed by someone who offers good health insurance. And we Americans have a very long and ugly history of tragedies. Slavery? More than 600,000 people were brought to the US against their will to serve as slaves. I call that a tragedy. Of monumental proportions.

So, let us remember that not all tragedies involve bombs or planes flying into buildings. Of course, 9-11 IS a tragedy. Absolutely. It is horrific to us and at the same time we are inspired by the stories of rescue workers and those people on a plane who went down in a field, fighting for their lives. It's a tragedy and I don't want to diminish it. But I don't want to celebrate it either. But it certainly is worthy of remembrance - the event and the people who lived through it and those who didn't.

In honor of that remembrance, the Kansas State Fair has a quilt on display made by Lois Jarvis of Madison, Wisconsin. The Lone Star pattern has been manipulated to identify many events of 9-11, including the explosion, gray skies and the chain link fence where remembrances of victims were placed. The quilt also includes images of 700 victims. Greg provided me with some photos from his blog.

Kansas State Fair 2007

The Kansas State Fair is well underway. It happens in Hutchinson, where I live, so I go every year.

It's one of the last great agricultural fairs left in the country and there are canned goods, and hand work, and livestock to be judged.

My friend, Andrea Springer, told me she was entering some knitted items and I see she won Second Place in one of the categories. Andrea is an exceptional knitter. It's her favorite hobby and she even works part time at a yarn store, called, appropriately enough, Yarn.

I try to stay out of that store because I am attracted to all those cool bits of fiber in all those cool colors. And I already have a stash of yarn that is still in it's fresh-from-the-store, pristine, condition. I do not need to add to my pile of yarn until I use up some of what I already have. I am not nearly as talented as Andrea when it comes to knitting needles. She has a real gift.

While I was in domestic arts I took a quick look around at the Governor's Cookie Jar and also at the cake decorating, cookies, breads and cakes. I was impressed with this cake designed to look like a folded quilt. I would never have the patience for this, but I think it's cool looking.



Greg and I went to see Ron Diamond, the hypnotist, tonight. He always puts on a great show. I think this is his 4th year at the Kansas State Fair. I did have a nice post about him from a previous year, but had to take it down because some people were fond of the photos of the people hypnotized for the wrong reasons. What reason? Well, remember how Jeffrey Daumer wanted to make his victims into "zombies?" Apparently some people think hypnotized people make good "zombies" and share Daumer's interest in that. Of course, that's not how hypnotism works, but I just didn't think the young lady who's photo was on my post would appreciate her picture being looked at by people in groups focused on such things so I took the whole post down. Suffice it to say that Ron Diamond puts on a great show. It's fun for all ages.

On our way back to the car we stopped off at the Hedrick's Petting Zoo. Their farm is in Nickerson, about 10 minutes from Hutchinson, and they bring some exotic animals to the fair for a petting zoo every year. Some of them are more exotic than others, of course.

We tried to feed various critters, but late in the day we didn't find too many takers. Except the goats. Goats will always eat - two at a time.



I found myself quite taken with the giraffe this year. I swear he started to pose when I got out the camera.



I think the following is what would be called "truth in advertising." In case you can't make it out, the sign says, "Careful! I can bite. (I have top AND bottom teeth.)"



And, yes, Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close up.

Quote of the Day

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Picasso

Teresa sent me this quote the other day and I love it. The "dust of everyday life" is the perfect way to describe the drudgery of going through the motions, which seems to be a large part of daily living. So much repetition. So much of the same.

I am working very hard at being in the moment - if I'm washing dishes or making art or whatever. It's good to live in the moment and be thankful for the ability to wash dishes or whatever mundane thing you're doing. It's worthwhile to remember that gratitude is a necessity. And we should be thankful for the ability and tools to wash dishes just as we're thankful for the tools and ability to make art.

But I want life to extend beyond the "dust of everyday life."

It's The Weekend - Thank Heavens

I am so ready for the weekend. I finished my grant this afternoon and got it sent right at the deadline, which is always when I get such things sent because I agonize over them. Grant writing is not my favorite thing and this one is a really important one so it has taken some stomach lining. I'm not sure how much more stomach lining I have to give to such things. It's starting to feel pretty used up.

And I hate the hoops they make you jump through - just because they can as far as I can tell. For example, on this one I had to get a letter signed by the board president saying we really wanted to do this. What? Like my board president would say, uh, no, uh, I don't think it's a good idea to fulfill the mission of our organization. But, I dutifully wrote the letter, printed it out, and got it signed and faxed it off. Busy work. I've got more real work than I have time to do and they want me to spend time on busy work.

I was up until after 3 last night working on it and got up at 6 to work on it some more. At 5 this afternoon, after it was sent I went to bed and slept off and on until about 9 tonight. But, since then I've been enjoying the fact that I have two whole days in front of me without any obligations other than those of my own choosing.

I have two freelance projects to do this weekend - a graphic design job and a magazine column to write. Other than those two things I'm going to focus my attention on the art show. I've done pretty well in my quest to get things finished, but I'm not completely done with that, so I want to keep working on it. I don't want to be up until the middle of the night next Friday and then a zombie all day Saturday.

I went to lunch with Trish today and we talked more about my latest Patsy theory on internal vs. external. The other night at Creative Sisterhood, after some excellent questions from others, I realized that part of the reason those of us who are internally focused need new and different is that that is what expands our internal world. I'm going to examine this more in my journals.

The other thing I'm realizing is that I continue to need more beauty in my life. Tonight I've been looking through some photos I took for the blog over the last year or two that I want to use in some art projects. I am reminded of just how much beauty one can find in daily life if you're just looking for it. Or maybe if you're just aware of it, not even necessarily looking.

Last night at Cheney I snapped this photo of a tree. It struck me that it looked very winter like, even though fall has not officially arrived.

Quote of the Day

Le beau c'est l'imprévu. - Thomas Bernard

Translation: What is nice is the unexpected. --Thomas Bernhard

This arrived in my mailbox today and I thought it was so appropriate given my penchant for "new and different."

I had a meeting in Kingman late this afternoon and stopped by Cheney Lake on the way back for the sunset. It wasn't a spectacular one, but it was nice. As if there's such a thing as a bad sunset.

It has been a draining few days. I have a grant due in about 12 hours and I'm still working on it. I could write these darned things in a couple of hours, but it's all the sweating over them and if I've said the right things. So, instead of a couple of hours they take a couple of weeks. And use up a lot of my stomach lining in the meantime. Not to mention what's used up while I'm waiting for the answer on them. I'm looking forward to the weekend with this off my plate. I'm taking the weekend off. Really off.

I got to have lunch with Leah today. We rarely have time to catch up and I miss her. The big news in her life is that she's now a cat owner. Considering that her husband "hates cats" and so does her older son and Leah would never want an animal in her house, it's pretty amazing. But, they're all falling for Minnie and Philip (the cat-hating husband) brought her home from work in the first place. The only family member who has been poised for cat ownership his entire life is Zane, the younger son. Zane was just ahead of his time and the rest of them have come around to his way of thinking. Anyway, it sounds like Minnie has made herself quite at home in Leah's household. I told Leah that I've always thought of cuteness as a survival skill for cats.

During my brief stop this afternoon at Cheney I was reminded of how much I need time in nature. And an hour here or there is not enough. I need to go spend a week or so in nature. I need another week at a cabin in the woods writing and painting and thinking. I need to do more writing and thinking for sure.

But, for the moment, all I can write is this grant. I will be so glad to be done with it. I'll be even happier to hear we've gotten it.

Well, I must get back to the grant. It's now 12 hours exactly when it has to be sent and I do need to spend at least a couple of those sleeping or I won't be coherent at all.

Creative Sisterhood

Tonight was Creative Sisterhood and it was an amazing evening. It was our fourth anniversary celebration. Technically, that was Monday the 3rd, but tonight was our gathering. It was incredible - truly incredible - the kind of evening I long for.

Sometimes we talk about what we're doing or thinking and although it's always pleasant, it's not always deep. Tonight was very deep, moving and personal. It was an honor merely to witness it, much less to participate in it. I'm sorry that Diana and Julie missed it because it was an exceptional evening and something that can't be recreated.

That is always the problem with missing any gathering of any sort - the synergy that exists can never be recreated. People can tell you what you missed, but it's never the same as experiencing it yourself. I just hate it when I have to miss something that's important to me. But, sometimes it just can't be helped.

In honor of our anniversary, I gave everyone a copy of the photo we took last year after cleansing Martha's office in Wichita.



I had gotten them printed in January, but had forgotten about them and ran across the prints recently and knew they were the perfect gift for our anniversary. I had planned to buy little frames for them but when I was in the store, with frames in hand, I was led to get plexi-glass coverings with magnets on them instead. I already have mine on my fridge. Martha is planning to put hers on her filing cabinet. For whatever reason, it seemed the right thing for them to be magnets.

I am so thankful to have this group in my life. When I'm considering good things I've done in my life, starting this group will be one of them. Of course, initiating the group is only a small part of the equation - the true test comes in if people are willing to commit and share themselves within it. Tonight was an exceptional example of how amazing that can be.

I made a new recipe tonight. I found it on allrecipes.com - it's called Earthquake cake. I'd heard of that, but never had it. It was pretty tasty, but very rich.

Earthquake Cake

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix with pudding


• 1 cup flaked coconut


• 1 cup chopped pecans


• 8 ounces cream cheese


• 1 pound confectioners' sugar


• 1/2 cup butter


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray.


2. Spread coconut and pecans over bottom of pan.


3. Mix cake mix according to package directions. Pour over the pecans and coconut.


4. Melt butter, add with cream cheese, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar to a medium-sized bowl and mix well. Spoon with a teaspoon over the cake.


5. Bake cake at 325 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until done.

Square Footage

Today I read a phrase I never thought I would see - "compact 2,028 square foot home..." in O at Home magazine. Just to set the record straight - 2000 plus square feet is NOT compact - particularly not for a home for one person. People have raised large families in less than half that space.

In the interest of full disclosure, my old house is about 2600 square feet and I live alone in it with my stuff. I'm certain in its 100 plus year history it has housed larger numbers of people than it currently does. It has four bedrooms, two baths and two sunporches - this is not "compact." Admittedly, it's not one of those 8,000 square foot homes so popular these days, but it is not compact.

I don't think it's wise to give people the idea that 2000 plus square feet is compact. That's foolish.The last thing the world needs is for everyone in the US to start thinking we need to build and heat/cool homes that have more than 2000 square feet per person, as if we're not using enough resources already.

Well, I think I need to go write a letter to the editor.

Change and Not

My days seem so very much the same lately that I'm hesitant to write about them for fear of boring you to tears. Or, to mouse clicks. I work. I paint. I prepare for the show. Lather, rinse, repeat.

But there's a lot going on in my mind. I guess I'm just not ready to premiere it yet, because I'm not sure what "it" is. The short story is that I am in a serious transition phase. I can feel it. It's palpable. I'm just not sure what it means or where it's going yet. But, I'd guess that my life will be very different a year from now than it is today.

I always assume my life will be better in the future. I remember saying that in a small group of people a couple of years ago, and being chastized for being so foolish.But, it still seems logical to me - and, frankly, essential - to believe that. Otherwise,  it seems like you'd be setting yourself up to fail in a way.

I'm searching. I'm just not sure for what. So, it's hard to know if I've found it yet.

Art Show Booth Setup

This is one of my latest journals I've made. I've been doing collage on some of them and painting on others. I've got more than 30 done and ready for the show.

I decided that this weekend was my dividing line - that I had to start finishing everything I had in process instead of continuing to paint. I like to paint. I hate to finish. But, you know, it's the oddest thing - people expect to be able to actually hang something on the wall and not have to put their own hangers on it. So, I've been doing a lot of that sort of thing.

I have a grant I have to finish writing this week so I'll be pretty brain dead by the end of the work day. But I can still do things like put tags on items, which I still need to do. Obviously, I could keep working on this nonstop until the day of the show, but that's just not logical. I want to actually get things done in advance so I'm not frantic right before the show. I'm hoping putting that in print will make it actually happen.

It has, blissfully, cooled off. Summer is officially over and other than missing the fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden, I'm not sorry to see it go. I like having the changing seasons. I'm always ready for the next one - whatever it is. The Kansas State Fair starts on Friday and that's always the dividing point for us regarding weather. The week of the fair generally offers some heat, some cold and some wet. I'm hoping the wet doesn't come the weekend of the show. I'm pretty sure it won't be too miserably hot. I'm hoping it's not miserably cold or wet - particularly wet - I don't want to spend nine hours in wet.

Our tentative plan is to go over very early and set up before the majority of people start doing that and the whole town becomes a traffic jam. We'll see how that works out in reality, but it's a good plan.

I talked to Jocelyn today and she was doing the same thing I was - getting ready for the show. Pretty much every flat surface in my house has something show related on it - the coffee table, the dining room table, the writing desk, etc. And there is glitter all over my house. You could do worse, I suppose, but it's everywhere - even on me - even after a shower. Needless to say, I'm doing some Christmas ornaments.

I've had some folks ask where our booth is going to be and we are SM1 - 33 - that translates to South Main 1, booth 33. We are in the middle of Main Street, with Grand Avenue to the north of us and A Street to the south of us. We are very close to A - the next to the first/last booth in that block. They put booths back to back down the middle of the street and we're on the west side, one booth between us and A street. If you mapquest 1 South Main Street in Hillsboro, Kansas, you'll get a good idea. I'm looking forward to seeing some blog readers there. It should be fun.

We did a dry run on setup this weekend and that was really helpful for me. I have a lot of detail things to take care of yet. Jocelyn tells me this is normal - that you keep doing this refining process, even if you do shows all the time.

Well, it's almost 1:30 a.m. and I have an early day so I need to get to bed. I think I've done all the show prep for today that I can do. I needed this extra day of weekend. I could use one more. But, alas, grants don't write themselves so tomorrow I will devote myself to that and hopefully get most of what's left to do done, then I can work on it a bit more throughout the week to improve it. I'm weary just thinking about it. I'd much rather be spending all my time thinking about art shows.

Quote of the Day

And it came to me all in a feeling how everything fitted together, the place and ourselves and the animals and the tools, and how the sky held us. I saw how sweetly we were enabled by the land and the animals and our few simple tools.
                                             Wendell Berry - from A Place on Earth

Quechup Warning

Over the last 48 hours I have been bombarded with invitations to join Quechup, a new social networking site. DO NOT DO IT. I was fortunate that the first "invitation" I got was followed about 10 minutes later by an email from that person (someone I didn't even know) saying ignore it, that they spammed his entire address book. He was not happy, needless to say. He is a writer, and had a ton of professional contacts in his address book, so they all got hit along with the rest of us.

His invitation and follow up email was followed by numerous others, including some to my podcasting groups. The way this site works, apparently, is to ask if you want to see if any of the people in your address book are on the site yet. But, unlike the scrupulous sites like Facebook, this one just automatically spams everyone who's email address it can latch onto, telling you that this person has invited you.

So, if you get an invite from Quechup, just ignore it. And realize the person who appears to be sending it may have no idea it has gone out under their name.

The Random Button on blog sites

Hitting the Random Button on blog sites can send you into dark alleys of the information superhighway disguised as Mommy Blogs, where you find more talk about pee and poop - and sometimes photos of children on potty chairs - than you would think possible.

Frankly, I'm not that interested in the toilet habits of toddlers, so I read very few mommy blogs. I always wonder who is so interested in looking at small children on potty chairs, and why anyone would indulge that interest by posting such things on the world wide web. I find the whole thing more than a little creepy - from taking such a photo to posting it online to looking at it. Just because digital cameras make it possible to capture every moment, doesn't mean you should.

Of course, for reasons that escape me, parents have been doing this for years. And, those of us who have dated the grown up men who's personal moments were documented by their parents are put in the difficult position of figuring out what to say when confronted with the photographic evidence that the man we're dating wasn't always potty trained. "You freaks, why would you take a photo like this of your baby?" is not appropriate. Just in case you were wondering.

It's not like we thought he was so perfect that he came out of the womb potty trained, but we don't need to see it. Some things are things we know intellectually, and that's all the experience we need with it. We know he clips his toenails, too, but we don't want to see it. Eeeewww... (I'm particularly disgusted by toenails, for reasons I don't understand. Hey, we all have our hangups.)

And why do the parents always want to show you the photo of their little darling on the potty chair decades later? Why? I don't need to see that. Some things are meant to be private. As of yet, I've not had a single man pleased to share the photo with me, but his twisted parents get some joy out of it. Obviously.

With the advent of blogs, now they can spread this joy world wide. It's creepy. And I won't make the mistake of hitting the random button again anytime soon.

Why You Should Google Yourself

Periodically, I google myself. I suggest it. It's how you find things like this - buried on the 5th page of entries about yourself. This is from the Kansas Health Institute and relates to the listening tour I participated in last Friday.

http://www.khi.org/s/index.cfm?aid=796

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Listening tour wraps up this week

By Mike Shields
KHI News Service

HUTCHINSON, Aug. 27 — State officials stopped in three cities Friday and will hit three more Tuesday as they wrap up a 20-city tour designed to hear what Kansans would like to see in a health reform plan to be considered by the 2008 Legislature.

Two members of the Kansas Health Policy Authority board and the agency’s executive director Marcia Nielsen were among an agency delegation of seven people that met Friday with groups in Hutchinson, Dodge City and Garden City.

The tour’s last day is Tuesday, starting in Topeka with a meeting with independent insurance agents. Later in the day the listening tour will be in Manhattan were officials will meet with Farm Bureau representatives and then with administrators and board members of the Flint Hills Community Clinic. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is scheduled to take part in that meeting. The tour will wrap up late afternoon in Salina with members of that city’s Chamber of Commerce.

Hutchinson
In a conference room of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, the health policy authority officials met with a group of about 20 people, many of whom offered personal stories about their problems with health and health insurance.

The first woman to speak burst into tears describing her difficulties after a car accident. She asked that any reform focus on better education for primary care doctors and better coordination among providers when patients rely on more than one.

Others complained about the high cost of health insurance, particularly for small-business employees.

“Health care is going higher, but my paycheck isn’t. We’re kind of stuck,” said Kim Waybright, a young mother who works at the Reno County Historical Society, a small non-profit agency.

“Small business is really suffering,” responded health policy authority executive director Marcia Nielsen. “Somewhere between 260,000 and 300,000 Kansans are uninsured and many, many work for small businesses.”

Waybright said her lower-income friends qualify for more assistance and better medical coverage.

“But there is a middle class that also is suffering,” she said.

“One of the most productive things the state could do is create a simple, standard plan that anyone could get…because we don’t even understand health insurance,” said Patsy Terrell, director of the Mental Health Association of Reno County, complaining of the complications resulting from arcane plan provisions and small print. “We’ve got to have something basic we can understand, that anybody can buy into. It also doesn’t make any sense that health insurance is tied to employment. It’s ridiculous. How many people do you know who are working just to have insurance?”

“The medical bills come from all over the country,” said Mary Hemmings, director of the Fox Theatre, a small Hutchinson non-profit that oversees the historic, renovated moviehouse. Hemming is a breast cancer survivor.

“I got a $1,000 bill for lab work from California,” she said. “I called to see what it was. They said: We can’t tell you over the phone. I’m still paying hundreds and hundreds a month in drug costs.”

Kim Moore, director of the United Methodist Health Ministries Fund, which hosted the meeting, urged changes in the law so that young adults could find affordable insurance or be allowed to stay on their parent’s health plans longer, up to age 25.

He said he had two children who were young adults and a third approaching young adulthood and it had been a problem finding affordable coverage for each of them.

“Our third daughter, we don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said. “I’m tired of this lore that young people don’t want health insurance.”

“Last year, there was a bill to mandate that,” Nielsen said. “And one thing you hear from insurance companies is that would drive up premiums for everyone.”

“Insurance companies say a lot of things that aren’t true,” Terrell responded. “Let’s just be honest about that. The system we have right now makes no logical sense. We need to throw out the system and start over.”

Sharon Hixson, a member of the Kansas Health Institute board of directors, attended that session. She urged attention to prevention and wellness programs.

“I think there have to be built-in incentives for staying healthy,” she said.

She also described a child-care worker who was leaving the business because she couldn’t do without health insurance.

“We have to make sure that not only our children have health care but also child care,’ she said.

The health policy authority officials also met separately with members of the Reno County Farm Bureau.

 “I feel like a own a suite at Wesley (hospital) in Wichita,” said Gayla Moeckel, who farms near Plevna, explaining that her daughter had cardiomyopathy and that her late husband had been in a spray plane crash in 1988. “I got one bill for $47,000. I have it framed at home. Instead of buying ground that year, we paid the bill.”

Her husband is now dead and she’s running the farm herself. Her brother who lives outside the area won’t come back to help because he cannot afford to give up the health insurance with the job he’s got.

“I’m still trying to keep the farm going and paying half (the health insurance costs) for the kids working for me,” she said. “I’ve got breast cancer in my family like you would not believe. I do go for an exam once a year, but I can’t afford a colonoscopy because it would not be covered. Not only are we paying more, but we’re getting less for our bucks.”

“How much sense does it make that they won’t pay for a colonoscopy, but will pay for you when you get colon cancer,” Nielsen responded rhetorically.

Our overriding concern is just buying (health insurance) and figuring out how to afford it,” said Brad Harrelson, a lobbyist for Farm Bureau. “Our industry is older and aging. Our demographics are going to skew us to that higher risk” and therefore higher cost insurance.

“Affordability is the biggest factor,” agreed Brad Blank. “My wife works off the farm. Her take-home pay is decreasing because her health care is going up faster than her raises.”

His mother, Sharon Blank, told the officials she was paying $1,650 a month for a health insurance policy that had a $3,000 deductible.

“It really, really hurts me to pay that much,” she said. “I just turned 64 and I can’t wait to turn 65 so I can go on Medicare. I never thought I’d say that.”

“I’m on Medicare. I got no complaint. They pay everything,” said Eldon Bontrager, who was sitting at her elbow.

That prompted Nielsen to ask the farmers what they would think of a state health plan that anyone could buy into, as was suggested by a woman at the earlier listening tour stop.

“You say you don’t want government getting more into health care but then you hear people saying they can’t wait to get Medicare,” she said. “That’s a government program.”

“I don’t know if we as an organization are sophisticated or smart enough to come up with solutions. We would go along with that mantra: No more government. But unfortunately we don’t have any solutions,” Harrelson replied.

“I’m not as convinced its going to be a major reform in the short-term,” said health policy authority board chairman Connie Hubbell, describing the plan likely to be delivered to lawmakers Nov. 1. “It’s going to be incremental. I don’t think we’re up for socialized medicine in Kansas.”

Dodge City
In Dodge City, at the Chamber of Commerce office, the visiting officials from Topeka outnumbered the locals, including House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, a Republican from nearby Ingalls.

“I don’t want anyone to think that we have to pass something this year,” Neufeld told the group. “We don’t want to pass something that helps a few people short term and then turns out to be disastrous long term.”

Most of the conversation at the conference room table focused on prevention and improving unhealthy lifestyles and the difficulties facing small businesses.

“When we talk about the cost of health care, how much of that cost is smokers, the obese? Something should be built in…so that those with riskier lifestyles pay higher premiums,” said Raymond Stroud, CEO of the Credit Union of Dodge City, which has 31 employees.

Stroud said his family is covered through Medi-Share, technically not an insurance company but a mutual aid organization of 50,000 Christians who share medical costs through a program the organization calls “Biblical Healthcare Solutions.”

Stroud said it was a non-denominational program offered through his church. Members must pledge not to drink, smoke or engage in “some other activities,” he said.

There is a $1,000 deductible for each medical event, Stroud said, but the monthly costs of the service are relatively cheap.

“It’s a big pool in Kansas,” Neufeld said, referring to Medi-Share and similar organizations that serve Mennonites and Lutherans and other faiths. “And they count as uninsured.”

Jeff Hiers of Brooke Insurance said the reform should address the problem of too few medical care providers in rural areas.

“There are not enough nurses or doctors,” he said. “We have to tackle helping kids pay for medical school.”

Garden City
At United Methodist Mexican American Ministries, the Topeka delegation heard from a crowd of about a dozen including dentist Grant Larkin.

“We need a dental school in Kansas,” Larkin said. “Not only are we underserved out here, but the dentists who are here are getting so far booked out that it’s out of control. We’re tired.”

“We’re trying to open a dental clinic but we’ll probably be up against a H-1B waiver cap,” said Penney Schwab, director of United Methodist Mexican American Ministries.

A H-1B visa allows employers to temporarily hire skilled foreigners in specialty occupations. But there are federal limits on the numbers of H-1B visas allowed. So, the new clinic may have trouble finding dentists to man it.

Others said there needed to be more state support for school nurses and that physical education should be required in schools.

-Mike Shields is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at mshields@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 123.

What Your Internet Presence Says About You

Time magazine reported in the Aug. 20 issue that 12% of employers admit to consulting social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace for help with their hiring practices. Of those, 63% declined to hire someone because of what they found. The major deal breakers were criminal activity and faked qualifications.

This caused me to think about what my online presence says about me. Obviously, I'm not given to a lot of criminal activity, so that's not an issue. As for my qualifications, they're easily checked out so there's no need for untruths there. I'd love to say I have a doctorate in some complex field, but that's not the case and I just don't think I could pull it off. What if someone asked me to actually explain relativity beyond, "time isn't linear." I'd be in big trouble. I understand it, but I can't explain it and I certainly can't do the math.

I don't think my Facebook or MySpace pages say much of anything about me, but the blog tells everything about my life that I'm willing to share, which is what I consider to be a "normal" amount of things you would share with people you're having conversation with. I have finally learned that there's a reason they call it a "private" life, and try to keep some parts of my life private. Besides, I've also realized that no one really wants to hear about your personal life. If you're happy, most people don't want to hear about it. If you're not happy, people really don't want to hear about it.

Last night at the United Way event, I had two people I don't know mention they read my blog. It's always fun to meet readers. One of these shocked me - I would never have expected this person to read my blog, but he seems to read regularly. People are full of surprises.

Seventeen Things

Today was a day in which I had seventeen things to do - appointments, meetings, commitments, etc. I managed to complete them all and get home by 10:07 p.m. The day ended with the United Way kickoff dinner, at which Bush impersonator, John Morgan, performed. Morgan was one of the runner ups on "The Next Best Thing" show. I didn't see the show, but Morgan was funny.



He was also incredibly pleasant afterwards, chatting with anyone who wanted to talk with him and posing for photos. Although I'm certain he would have kindly done it, I didn't stop him to get a photo for the blog because he is leaving the hotel at 4 a.m. to catch his flight. But I noticed he was talking to lots of people at the front of the room, including hotel staff. As he walked toward the back where I was helping pick things up I did tell him I enjoyed his show, but he was a little too realistic, which was true.

I like it when celebrities are gracious - some are, some aren't - and it often has nothing to do with their popularity. My very limited experience has been that it's the people who have a little bit of fame suddenly - i.e. they're starring in a TV show after struggling for years and don't know how to handle their sudden popularity - that are the most obnoxious.

I won't be specific about who it was, but a certain actor from LA Law when it was at its height is the most obnoxious celebrity I've ever had occasion to interview/meet/be around. He had signed on to do an event before he got famous. He wasn't happy about being held to his contract and sitting in the back room of a mall talking to a bunch of reporters was not his idea of fun. You'd be hard pressed to think of his name now, so you know it wasn't Harry Hamlin or Jimmy Smits. It was one of those other guys. Frankly, I'd have to look up the show to find his name.

This is in contrast to The Judds, who performed on the Kansas State Fair free stage in the hot sun years ago, even though they had the number one song at the time. I don't know how gracious they were behind the scenes, but they were giving people a good show. They had been booked a year or two earlier and in the meantime had had two big hits. It's what you dream of when you're a promoter. We left the free show they were doing to get to the show Loretta Lynn was doing at the grandstand. We had been given tickets and I figured one should always take advantage of seeing a legend.

That was years ago, of course, Oddly enough, I ran into Bob Gottschalk, the former director of the state fair, tonight. He would have been the one who booked the Judds all those years ago. I haven't seen him in ages. I interviewed him many times when he was with the fair and I was a reporter. He was always very pleasant and helpful. His daughter was in my leadership class last fall, and she did the Coming Home table for the tea. Yes, it is a small town!

That was the end of the day, and it was a pleasant end to the day. The United Way campaign is officially kicked off. I run a United Way agency and we could not survive without them. When you work for an agency that can't show what they do because of privacy, it's difficult to illustrate what you do.

I'm glad I have a little calmer day tomorrow. I have a list of things to accomplish but I can do them on my time table, which will be a lovely change from today when I was on a tight schedule.

Lunch with Trish

I had lunch with Trish for the second time this week - we need some catch up time because we've missed some weeks. It was a really wonderful conversation today.

A couple of months ago, Teresa posed a question to Trish and me when we were talking about how much we like new and different. Teresa's question was WHY was that important. This launched into a tangent conversation about memorable moments in our lives - times that we felt very in tune with the world, very happy, etc.

Trish and I both related events about specific places/times, but the people we were with - if anyone - were not the major attraction. For example, I mentioned being underground in the tomb of Unas at Sakkara, Egypt, alone, for quite some time. I will never forget those moments - they were incredible. For Teresa, the things she recalled were about the people she was with - not the place or the activity.

I have devoted considerable thought to this since that conversation. It has been one of the trains of thought going in my brain since then. Today I shared my theory with Trish. I have "a Patsy Theory" about a zillion different things, and this is the latest one.

It boils down to where one's focus is. My focus is largely internal. That's not to say I'm an introvert - I'm not. But where my energy is devoted is largely internal. The amount of time I spend thinking versus sharing my thinking with others is very lopsided. I spend far more time engaged in the internal. I like people, and enjoy conversation immensely, but the I don't want to do that to the exclusion of alone time.

When your focus is internal, you're more moved by your internal reaction to things, places, events. Because you're processing it, you're not likely to want to be engaged with other people at the time. I would have considered it a real incovenience to have to talk with someone when I was in the tomb. I wanted to experience it - ie have an internal experience. If you're externally oriented, you want to share it with someone - the experience is in the sharing of it.

I am still working on the details of my theory, but that is the basic concept. That those of us who are internally focused are more about the experience (and therefore the places/events) than we are about the people we're sharing the experience with. Neither is better than the other - just a different way of looking at the world.

Obviously, I am not done working on this theory yet...

Quote of the Day

"Back of the problem of race and color lies a greater problem and that is the fact that so many civilized person's are willing to live in comfort even if the price of this is poverty, ignorance, and disease of the majority of their fellowmen, [and] that to maintain this privilege men have waged war until today war tends to become universal and continuous." W.E.B. DuBois (writer, civil rights spokesman)

Diana Held Hostage

My friend, Diana, was held hostage yesterday when a bomb threat was called into the 30th Avenue Dillons Store. She had gone in to send flowers and was caught, along with about 100 other people, in the store while a man on the phone made demands to have money wired to a European bank account. There were no injuries during the episode.

Police believe someone may have tapped into the store's security system. Diana said it was obvious the caller knew what was happening in the store. He said if anyone left the store he would blow it up.

The caller demanded people take their clothes off, and that the manager's fingers be chopped off for every hour his demands for money were not met. She said the employees were behind the service desk area and the men turned their backs when the women took their clothes off. Some customers disrobed and some didn't. Diana did not. She said she was on the east end of the store, near the office, and not as close to the service desk as some of them. She was originally sitting on a chair, but they forcefully demanded everyone get on the floor, which was difficult for some of the customers.

Diana said some of the older people in the store were complaining they couldn't breathe and that they were having chest pains. She said one gentleman with Parkinson's was tremoring very badly.

When they decided to start letting people leave, two at a time, Diana said some people didn't want to leave without their cell phones, which had been collected from all of them. Diana couldn't believe people were worried about their phones, but they were.

They were taken to the liquor store next door, that's part of the complex, where there were counselors available. All the customers and employees were also suspects because they were trying to determine if it was someone in the store who was in on it.

No bombs were found. No one was injured.

I called Diana this morning just to say hello. I had no idea she had been in Dillons. Needless to say, it's quite the developing story.

In fact, there is a current bomb scare at the Main Street Dillons. They had one yesterday as well, but it was quickly determined to be false. I guess this is the latest trend across the country. Seems like people could find better things to do than call in bomb threats.

I got up this morning before 6 and went out to watch the end of the lunar eclipse. I tried to go back to sleep afterwards, but couldn't. So, it has been a long, long day.

Greg was out in my front yard taking photos. I am, once again, reminded of how lovely it is to have your own personal professional photographer. You can see a whole series of eclipse photos on Greg's blog - I just stole one to put here (with his permission, of course). Check out the whole eclipse in sequence at www.thelope.com.

A little before 8 this morning the roofers next door insisted I move the van and the car from the driveway because they were afraid they would drop shingles on them while working on the house. Had I known they were coming, I would have charged the van battery. I don't drive it very often so always have to charge the battery before driving it. I'm not sure how they expect to find the neighbors at home whenever they happen to show up. Regardless, they pushed the van down the driveway so it was out of the way and I dug out the battery charger so I could move it back. All of this hoopla and they pulled off about a half dozen shingles and then left, not to seen the rest of the day. It's at least good to know that other people have no better luck with people who work on their homes than I do. On other home fronts, I called the lawn guy tonight and it will be next Wednesday before he can do my yard. Apparently lawn guys are in great demand.

I got some MHA projects completed today that I have been putting off and then spent a few hours in the studio tonight. I've been painting some backgrounds and have black paint under my fingernails - it looks really awful but I can't get it out. I've cut my nails to the point that they're as short as possible. It will wear off eventually, but it's not very attractive in the meantime. I have noticed people looking askance more than once - as if I'm a person who hasn't washed her hands in some weeks. Anyone who knows me knows this is not likely. I wash my hands many times each day. No, I'm not obsessive. I just like my hands clean. And, I rarely get sick. So there.

This is nothing new. My mother had the bathroom redone in her house when I was about three and had the sink installed at a level I could easily reach without her assistance. My father was saying, exasperatedly, "Mary Lea, she's going to grow!" To which my mother replied, "You don't know how many times a day I wash this child's hands." She had me come in and reach as far as I could and told the workman, "That's where I want the sink." And that's where the sink remains decades later.

I also have a thing about brushing my teeth. I remember on a trip once telling Matthew I needed to buy some toothpaste that day because I was out. He said, "Well, that's no wonder. You brush your teeth 20 times a day." For the record, I do not brush my teeth that much. At the time we were staying in a hotel room where we were sleeping about four inches from each other, waking up practically nose to nose every morning. You know Europeans love that coziness. I pointed out to Matthew that a person you're waking up only centimeters from could have worse habits than brushing their teeth multiple times a day. He conceded this was definitely true.

OK... moving on to other topics... time for a confession... My latest guilty pleasure - watching  "Rob and Big."  I'm not a huge reality show fan, but there's something funny about these guys and their friendship.And, shoot, they probably have a better chance of staying together than the Barkers did.

Homemade Granola

Teresa made homemade granola for Kansas Dialogue and people were asking for the recipe. I told them I would ask and if she agreed to give it, I would post it on the blog. Well... here it is...

It's Alton Brown's recipe from "Good Eats" on the Food Network. It's mighty yummy!

Granola
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup cashews
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.
Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.