PRISMS AND POLKA DOTS

 Stopping in to quickly post a few words.  We're getting set for a nacho party starting at 5, with drinks, appetizers, nachos with lots of toppings, concluding with simple Little Debbie's heart-shaped cakes.  A finger-food meal.  

The nacho bar will consist of nacho chips, hot nacho cheese, taco-flavored hamburger, refried black beans, shredded lettuce, green onions, black olives, tomato salsa, guacamole salsa, cream cheese and jalopeno peppers.  Everyone can make their own meal according to the toppings they like.  As for me, I'll put some of everything on mine, cuz I'm one who likes all the toppings.

The guacamole salsa has a real zing, kinda hot and vinegary.  Not everyone likes hot and spicy, so we tried to make most of the toppings mild.  We love tacos and nachos and this makes for an easy meal to serve.  

We have nighttime visitors, and we captured a photo the other evening from our spare bedroom window.  The deer walked through the trellis.  How sweet is that.  

Best put my sweatshirt in the dryer to wear for the party.  The table needs setting, floors need to be swept and vacuumed, showers taken and then we're ready to spend time with friends.  I say it over and over again, but when one thinks about 8 billion people living on this planet, how fortunate we are to have others in our lives who share life's good times and difficult times.  The best part is getting together, sharing and laughing, yet caring for one another and keeping their best interests at heart.    

Life has its stages, and those stages each require a unique type of friendship.  When we're young and the world is our oyster, we mix with lots of different personalities.  Along the way, good friends become besties, and sometimes besties choose other paths and leave us with memories.  But, when the life ruler gets shorter and shorter, the ones who have loyally stood beside us throughout the journey, well, they're the gold nuggets.  Then there are those we meet for the first time during our last stages, and those are blessings beyond words.  Life is a string of gifts doled out as we need.  Life is also a string of losses and heartbreaks.  But, there's always new gifts to replace the ones we've lost.  That's the business of one door closing and another door opening.  It's as true as true can be.  So, for today I offer a prayer for all those who love me and who allow me to love them back.