Poll

If you haven't already, please vote in my poll on the sidebar, about how many siblings you have. :) Voting ends in 11 days.

Outside This Invention

Why is it we so often think
There's fulfillment on this screen?
Friends, indeed, are fun to follow,
Blogs and photos to be seen.

But there's a world of difference
When we take a step back and forget
To remember checking facebook walls,
And simply stop and learn not to fret.

Useful tools can also be instruments of pain...
Though we think we know which is which,
We can blur the lines and think our loss is gain,
And sometimes our minds turn off the switch.

So much lies outside this invention...
Trees and birds and piano beaming,
Laughter, hugs, and intervention,
Passages sweet and full of meaning.

Even the mundane tasks once dreaded
Can become sweet and refreshing,
Bring us closer to where we're headed,
And to others be a blessing.

Let us not forget Who gives each hour,
Each hope and strength and love,
Each counter-top to scour--
Each gift is from above.

-Melissa M.
8-12-10

Jane Austen Tour Blog Contest

Here is my entry for the contest. Just in time! I wasn't planning to enter at first, but I had fun painting this today with watercolors. It shows up a little grainier than in real life, as I had to take a photograph of it. Click for larger image.

And here's a shot of the painting as it was in progress, and the two pictures I based it on: