Mr C's, a bargain and really?

- Mr C's (a neighborhood bar and grill near my office) has daily food specials, but only the meatloaf seems to inspire wackiness on the street sign out front.

- From Mr C's sign:
FREE
LIFE COACHING
WITH EVERY
MEATLOAF
PURCHASE
$6.99

- From last week:
MEATLOAF
$6.99
ENOUGH TO FEED
FOURTEEN
CHILDREN*

* A tribute (I think) to the woman who recently gave birth to octuplets and already had six children.

Tunes, old favorite and state by state

- Loading up my iPod with energetic music to accompany walks at the mountain.

- Allowing three days to pass before opening the box of Girl Scout cookies. Thin Mints - an old favorite. I will take the other box to my committee meeting tonight.

- Enjoying the book, "State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America." It is a very different portrait than expected and highly recommended. Just finished: the section on Louisiana by Joshua Clark, who spent time in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans with spirit searchers looking for ghosts.

Sister, fancy southern food and the Fox

- Arriving home from work to the scent of shampoo and soap floating from the back of the house. My sister is here.

- A wonderful pre-theater dinner at South City Kitchen in Midtown Atlanta with half of the Fun Girls and Jo (who is an honorary Fun Girl now.) My favorite thing from the appetizers: Bacon-Pimento Cheese Fritters with spicy tomato cream. YUM.

- Delighting in taking Jo to her first visit to The Fabulous Fox theatre. Designed in the late 1920s, the most magical thing for me has always been the "sky" (ceiling) full of flickering stars and magically drifting clouds. After watching "A Chorus Line" we wanted to kick our legs up like the dancers.

Memory, welcome and rose white

- A man who carries the faint scent of pipe tobacco brings back a memory. When I share this with him, he apologizes profusely for being a smoker. No, no, I say, you remind me of the scent of my father when I was a little girl. He used to smoke a pipe back then.

- Readying my home for a rare visit from my sister and since she will arrive there before I do this afternoon, making it welcoming for her by leaving the living room lamp on, plantation shutters open to let in sunlight, a book about the theater we will go to tonight, fizzy water in the refrigerator and a kitty who loves her Aunt Jo.

- Here is what I learned this week about wall paint: You cannot assume that it will stay liquid forever. The man at Sears got a kick out of my paint that had turned solid, but happily for me, they still have Rose White.

Downtime, learning the lesson and creative outlet

- Attending a lecture "Downtime: The Sacred Art of Stopping" by the wonderful Barbara Brown Taylor. The lecture addressed how we are all SO busy that we may not have noticed how this "too-muchness" eats away at relationships, creativity, health, focus and soul. She spoke about different spiritual traditions having different names for downtime, but all being in agreement that it is essential.

- At the beginning of her talk, my mind is still clicking in the background, Should I have promised that print job for Friday? I just spent too much money at dinner, I need to remember to buy paint on Wednesday, What did my neighbor mean when she said that? I hope Susan found her ticket at will-call, etc. etc. But as I begin to really listen, I relax and reflect upon what she was saying. And this is one of the reasons I write this blog. It really just started out as journaling, but 3BTing is a creative outlet for me. (Thank you, Whitney and Clare.) I do like to write, but am fiddling around in my head with other things I might do to feed my soul.

- Later, when she was signing my book, Barbara exclaimed with delight that I was wearing one of her Mahjong necklaces. (That is one of her creative outlets - making jewelry that is sold out of a gallery in Clarksville, Georgia.) She said she had been conflicted about whether the piece was upside down or not, but decided that it was OK one way or another, because I would be looking down at it when I wore it. Another fine example of letting things go...

Ab imo pectore, guilty pleasure and virtuosity

- Enjoying the look of Annis's blog, Ab Imo Pectore (translated: "From the bottom of my heart") even though I cannot read Norwegian. (I found the translation on a piece of jewelry seen on Etsy.)

- The guilty pleasure of having someone in to clean my house today. He is out of work and likes to clean. I work and do not enjoy cleaning, so it works out for both of us.

- Vowing to make the Spicy Cabbage and Chicken Stir-fry seen on Clotilde's blog. She was wrestling with what to do with a head of cabbage purchased in a "fit of virtuosity." I agree that cruciferous vegetables are good for you, so will try this during the weekend and report back.

Coming in like a lion, snow day and worth the wait

- Some time during the church service the rain turns to snow. Travis, who is from Texas (which probably sees snow less than North Georgia), announces it to the people sitting around him when the service is over. There is a rush to the windows. When I walk in the door at home from outside, there is snow in my hair.

- I've said it before - Atlantans are silly about snow. We love it, but hate the effect it has on our travel. A news report tells about the flight cancellations at Hartfield-Jackson. The reporter hears a group of students from Missouri, standed at the airport and trying to get home, saying they cannot understand why.

- The weather for next weekend? Highs in the low '70s. My ivy, which has gamely survived the winter, will know that it was worth the wait.