She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair’d the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Of softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dea their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Lord Byron
1788-1824

Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.

The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
No so much honoring thee,
As giving it a hope that there
It could not withered be.

But thou theron didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me,
Since when it grows and smells, I swear,
Not of itself but thee.

Ben Jonson
1572-1637

Seven months ago I’d give Coco and Bean, the cats, attention and they’d walk away. Now that little baby Eli is the center of attention, the big nine year olds come begging for love, wanting to sit on my lap. Nine years is a long time to wait, unless your my husband, who waited eleven years for us to marry.

“Soup is the song of the hearth… and the home.”
Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949)

I visited my sister for Thanksgiving. Like the old times growing-up we cooked together in the kitchen. We love sweets and chocolate. This pie was a big hit, almost as good as the Risotto on Seinfeld.

This recipe is taken from Mrs. Fields Best Cookie Book Ever

Crust
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 ounces milk chocolate finely chopped
In a medium bowl blend the first three ingredients. Add the chocolate. Press into 9 inch pie crust. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Filling
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 cups heavy cream, scalded
5 large egg yolks, beaten
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
In a heavy saucepan dissolve sugar in water over low heat. Bring to boil over medium heat. Brush down sugar from sides to prevent crystalizing. Remove from heat. Add cream. Stir well. Add egg yolks, stir well. Stir in chocolate chips and vanilla until melted and smooth. Pour mixture into pie crust. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Bake 35 minutes in preheated oven. Transfer to wire rackto cool. Refrigerate until firm, 4 hours. Save me a piece if you make it

Love: A fruit always in season.

- Mother Teresa

A Special World

A special world for you and me
A special bond one cannot see
It wraps us up in its cocoon
And holds us fiercely in its womb.

Its fingers spread like fine spun gold
Gently nestling us to the fold
Like silken thread it holds us fast
Bonds like this are meant to last.

And though at times a thread may break
A new one forms in its wake
To bind us closer and keep us strong
In a special world, where we belong.

- Sheelagh Lennon -

Love at first sight is easy to understand.
It’s when two people have been looking at
each other for years that it becomes a
miracle.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Wealth is where your friends are.
-Platus

A thankiful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all other virtues. Cicero

Friendship is a union of spirit,
A marriage of hearts,
And the bond there of virtue.
-Samuel Johnson

Faith is believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.
-Voltare

Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.
-Alexander Smith

A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; fels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.
-William A Ward

There is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life.
-Sister Mary Rose McGeady

Nobody will believe in your unless you believe in yourself.
-Liberace

Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light
-Jennie J Churchill (mother of Winston Churchill

Nothing loved was ever lost.
-Ellen Brenneman

There’s nothing like a newborn baby to renew your spirit-and to buttress your resolve to make the world a better place.
-Virginia Kelley

There are spaces between our fingers so that another person’s fingers can fill them in.
-Bits and Pieces

No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?
-Lee Iacocca

William McKinley, the 25th U.S. President, once had to choose between two equally qualified men for a key job. He puzzled over the choice until he remembered a long-ago incident.

On a rainy night, McKinley had boarded a crowded streetcar. One of the men he was now considering had also been aboard, though he didn’t see McKinley. Then an old woman carrying a basket of laundry struggled into the car, looking in vain for a seat. The job candidate pretended not to see her and stayed put. McKinley, however, gave up his seat to help her.

Remembering the episode, which he called “this little omission of kindness,” McKinley decided against the man on the streetcar. Our decisions-even the small fleeting ones-tell a lot about us.
-Taken from Bits and Pieces which adapted this from Presidential Anecdotes, Paul F. Boller, Jr.

Anger is the only thing to put off till tomorrow.
-Slovakian Proverb

Years ago, a 10 year old boy approached the counter of a soda shop and climbed on to the stool. “What does an ice cream sundae cost?” he asked the waitress. “Fifty cents,” she answered.

The youngster reached deep in his pockets and pulled out an assortment of change, counting it carefully as the waitress grew impatient. She had “bigger” customers to wait on. “Well, how much would just plain ice cream be?” the boy asked. The waitress responded with noticable irritation in her voice, “Thirty-five cents.”

Again, the boy slowly counted his money. “May I have some plain ice cream in a dish then, please?” He gave the waitress the correct amount, and she brought him the ice cream.

Later, the waitress returned to clear the boy’s dish and when she picked it up, she felt a lump in her throat. There on the counter the boy had left two nickels and five pennies. She realized that he had enough money for the sundae, but sacrificed it so that he could leave her a tip.
-Taken from Bits and Pieces, which adapted the story from Fleming Revell

Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
-Henry James

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
-Arthur Rubinstein

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
-Arthur Rubinstein

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
-Plato