How do you want to be kissed?

I want him to grab me and pull me to him as though I am his oxygen. 

I want to hear every sexy, love song play in my head as I feel his lips pressed to mine. 

I want to be dizzy...completely dizzy. 

I want to tingle in places that...

I think every person deserves to be shown a complete affection as though they are the most important person to someone. A woman should feel love, respect, and as though she is fragile and strong all at the same time. She should feel like she can conquer whatever she wants to conquer because of the support and love shown to her by this most important man in her life.

I'm not talking one night stands. I'm not even talking about sex. I am talking about love, amor, L'amor, liefde, laska, etc....

Love makes a kiss so much more passionate. It makes one's breath catch in their throat and creates a sensation of falling. It makes you feel like nothing can possibly go wrong. It makes everything in life more tolerable. It makes life good! 

Of course, the science people would like to point out to me that it is endorphins causing all the feel-good emotions in the body. However, I would argue the point. I think it's more. I think that while endorphins do kick in and make us tingly in parts of our body, I would suggest that the feel-good feeling has the power to make us want to feel it again. It makes us want to work out so that we will look good for our mate. It makes us want to clean a little more, dress a little better, dance, or even breathe deeper. It makes life look a bit more manageable. 

I think a kiss that rocks our boat makes us feel special. It makes us know that even for that brief moment we can have something extraordinary. Forget everything bad because I've got someone to share life with! I know someone will be there to kiss me like there is no tomorrow. I know that with that one kiss, I am important. I am special. I am all woman. With that one kiss, I can roar like a freaking lion and the world will step back and know that I am not to be messed with.

A crazy, magnificent kiss can alter a person's life. Have you had one of those lately?

Peace and Love,

Tela

My Jacksonville State University

I visited my college campus today. A tornado decided a few weeks back that it needed to stop and visit my school. It ripped up trees, downed power lines, left whole areas of the campus and the immediate area off-limits, and just left too many houses to count in shambles. I cried.

I wondered how it is that a storm decides it needs to sit down in a certain area and have a party. I am happy there were no deaths in all of that devastation; however, it is bad. People, you can see the storm in every building on campus, it seemed. I used to think the business building with it's huge mural was one of the most intriguing buildings on campus. It's a wreck. Ernest Stone, the drama and English department was hardly touched. It has a few things to show evidence of the tornado, like some upturned roofing and downed trees.

Let's talk the trees on campus. I hope you have pictures of those huge, magnificent things, because the storm took them. If they were not taken, they were beaten to show their despair. I drove around the TMB and there was this lonely tree standing there. It was standing, but if it could talk it would tell a story of whispers from the trees and screams and rumblings from the ground from my campus. I teared up at this tree.

See, JSU is MY campus. It was my dad's campus, my brother's campus, my sister-in-law's campus, my cousins' campus, and it is the home of my SOUTHERNERS! Blow 20Js! I remember yelling that across the field for my brother his freshman year. He he he!!! I remember asking him if he heard me in front of the whole section with Dave Higgins as the section leader of the Toads! Dave laughed and said yes, they had ALLLLLL heard me. I was sold! JSU was going to be my campus, too.

Sure enough, 4 years later and I was a flute player with the Southerners. It was a most awesome experience to march with this fine group of people. Hats off to all of you! No one could trill a trumpet like Tommy could do. He was magic on that thing! Scott, without you, I would have never passed music theory! Thank you! I also remember saving another flute player from exposure at the photo shoot when she passed out in the sun. Before she dropped, she whispered, "I'm not wearing any pants under these!" My memories from JSU always make me giggle.

I have fantastic memories from the Drama Department in 2002-2004 when I returned for my Masters. I would take my Will with me to classes where Dr. Whitton would talk about how he had heard that iguana tastes like chicken. He saw my Will years later and still remembered my oldest son from his class. Will helped in make-up with friends of Jeff and Angela and Jason and our wonderful professor, Freddy. He was always ready to teach us new techniques. I still have my Klingon mask I made in that class. I will never forget Jeff telling Will they had a real bear on stage. Of course, Will wanted to see the bear.

JSU is an awesome school. It will be just fine. Despite the destruction, there were people walking around campus with their heads held high and with smiling faces. There were construction crews working everywhere. I stopped at my favorite yarn store and got my dose of smile for the day. She always remembers us and can't wait to see what I pull out of the discount basket. She also told us about a new skateboard park in Jacksonville by Kitty Stone.

Our day worked out perfect with a stop at the finest BBQ in AL, The Rocket. We visited my campus, my yarn shop, and a skateboard park. Yes, I did get on the board, for just a brief minute. I think I'm too old for that sport!

Peace and Love,

Tela

My Container Garden

 One thing that makes me truly happy is playing in the dirt. From the time I can remember, I was delighted to get my pants dirty by making mud pies under the pine trees. Playing in the dirt is therapeutic to me. That dirt under my nails and the coffee in my hand is free therapy for me and you!

I don't really have the soil to plant too much in the ground. Plus, I already had numerous pots in the garage. I just got them all out yesterday and filled some with some of the dirt from other pots. I just had to plant some of my seeds!

I bought seeds at the dollar store for $.25 each. That's a steal! No, they are not organic and they probably are from last year, but hey, it's a seed!

Memory lane moment! Does anyone remember going to Hunts and Wright in Boaz, AL? It's no longer there, but it was THE place to go for all our seed needs as a kid. I remember how my parents would get the garden tilled and ready for seeds. We would go to that store and the smell of the place would just make you warm with the thoughts of sunshine. He had the big seed bins and scoops for all the different plants. He had bundles of onions and cabbage and strawberries on his sidewalk. We would get all kinds of seeds: green beans, squash, eggplant, okra, watermelon, and anything else we wanted. He had it all! Mom would have him stack up our seeds, then walk outside to the live plants. We always bought live tomatoes, not seeds. We also bought this little bundle of cabbage that could turn into at least 100 plants when separated by Mom! On a funny note, Mom asked me to weed the carrots one time. I pulled up all the carrot plants instead of the weeds. We laughed about it and I replanted the carrots.

I planted herbs yesterday as well as peppers of 3 different varieties to include bell pepper, cayenne, and some other kind I can't remember now. I planted some marigolds in a hanging pot for my courtyard. I need more of those because they are supposed to deter mosquitos. I'll keep you posted on that one! I planted some chives. I really like chives! They are yummy little onion sisters. I also planted some basil and parsley, as well as oregano and Thyme. In a bed of some flowers I also planted some lettuce seed and spinach seed. Popeye will appreciate that! ;-) I still have a few things to plant like cucumbers and green beans. I love green beans! Last year I had a bumper crop of cucumbers growing but the birds decided it was a buffet. Couldn't keep the cuties out of them! I will have to come up with a scarecrow and things to keep the birds out of the garden. I also want some berries and I think I will plant an apple tree. I really like apples, especially with peanut butter!

I also discovered I have the purple flowered clover in my yard. It's in the photo right in the middle. I am excited!

After all my planting yesterday, I decided to sit and relax in one of the most peaceful spots of my backyard.

Today, I need more potting soil.

Peace and Love,

Tela