Was your Christmas merry?

Christmas has come and gone. Hard to believe it is already done for this year. Work, craft shows, being behind everywhere... suddenly it is Christmas day and I am not ready. I wrapped "zero" gifts. DH got what he got unwrapped, what he got me was wrapped by the store. I don't remember the last time I went through the wrapping paper section in a store and looked at paper. What they have here comes in boxes, on end...and doesn't stimulate the imagination. Or at least not mine, because I walk by them like they are not here. I did look at ornaments this year and buy some more for our tree...which I put up. Love the tree up, watching its twinkling lights at night, watching the ornaments move when the building does (15th floor, building moves with wind and vibrates with the metro at times). Different neighbors come and see the tree. Obviously from what I have seen, we do ours more much differently than most others I see here. Many different types, sizes, shapes, colors of ornaments, from many years and all over. Home made, plastic, glass, metal, wood...you name it, it is on the tree.

I have a friend in Michigan who does their Christmas on Jan. 6...the day when the wise men were said to have come and given the gifts to the holy child. That concept runs through my head a lot, but makes it difficult with us both working. Still...I like the idea.

We were alone this year. Jacqueline, my "belle mere" was not here, nor were we with her or any of Michel's family. Mine are all back in the US. Did not invite anyone over for anything. Thought about it. Mentioned it to DH..he said you don't do that here. (Inviting only for some appetizers and holiday cheer.) My reaction? I am American... by now they should expect us to do things differently. Again, I can laugh at that, as we carry many of the French customs with us when we are back in the states. I like how they do things here also. So we are a blend. Like coffee I guess. Which I am sipping my first cup of the day while I write this. I had to reboot the computer and noticed I had not written here for (OMGosh) quite a while. Guess I won't say exactly how long. See what I mean? Behind. I did get most of our winter clothes out, there is still a box or two I am missing...must still be down in the cave (the name for the room we get underground with our apartment, like a cellar). By the time I find them it will be time to put them away. Hmmmm.... seem to be rambling.

I hope you had a MERRY CHRISTMAS
and have a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Marche de Noel

Or, the American Church/WOAC Art and Craft Fair. It is amazing how many of the french do not understand the concept of a craft fair. They use the same word but differently so then of course it became an exposition...but that did not work. LOL, too many "other" things fall under that word heading. So this year, it got an official name change. Marché de Nöel. That actually lets the other population here that are not English speaking know what is going on. Here are some photos of when we were at the German School fair, but it does show our items even if they are a bit crowded on just one table. I even have added some new items this year, and must get some printing done for his cards....At least a multiple pack. Time...time...need time...

The grab bag

I suppose I should put it on. Oh, we also have another kit ready to go into the store. It is called An Art Nouveau Surprise. I will get to that in another post... Our weekend went by in a total blur. I spent most of it working on the art fair I am coordinating for the American Church in Paris. We are trying something new this year, and putting it on the web with vendors listed with what they sell and photos, we will have a hand out at the door with a complete list and telling where the rooms, and different things are found. The hardest part is getting the word out! If you are interested, you can see it by "clicking here".
Too bad most of you don't live around here, you could come and shop and have fun!

November already!

It is foggy out today. It has been cold, damp and blah for a bit now. I am behind...my Halloween decorations are still not up, some are not done, so guess I will just move on and try and get them done for next year and be early for a change. We did get the 2nd kit done and in the store on the 1st of the month!! Want to see? Between the two of us we had fun with this one. Michel's bat wings and ghost are translucent, he has multicolored hairs on his spider and a "lacy" web rather than a regular old one. He even created a brush for me for the barbed wire which was fun! His idea of a haunted house is not exactly mine, but his is at least very colorful. I had the most fun with the papers. Rich, bright and some multicolored with lots of depth, design and some even look very dimensional. I find I have the most fun creating papers for some reason, which works out well because he enjoys the elements. We combine on some of the odds and ends. I also managed a grab bag at the beginning of the month which has not been "opened" yet, first one. We will change them with what we put in and how we do it with each one, but they seem to be fun! I also did one layout of my grand daughter using the fright kit... hmmm did I keep a small enough copy to put here? Must go and check! Ok..found it! Of course when I showed dh the LO, his first comment was... you distorted the ghost. I said yes....it is reaching for her hat. It was on purpose and fun. (Deep sigh) Sure seems difficult some times.

1st Halloween kit in the store and an extra paper pack :)

We finished it!! I managed to get it into the store yesterday! It is called Halloween Fun. We also did an extra paper pack...which will coordinate with both, yes, you read right, both Halloween kits. The next one to be released soon is Halloween Fright. I figured that way people who want fun kits can get the fun one, and others who want fright...get that one.

There is such a wide variation between people and what they like/don't like at Halloween. Halloween is one of those holidays that is very controversial, especially with a religious background. The biggest problem is the hype that goes with the holiday making it a must "I want to go trick or treating" by the kids...parties, events at school, neighborhoods have private things. It is everywhere, even here in France now!

How did I get off what I was saying? The kits! Ok...I will show you the .gif's of the Fun kit and the preview of the paper pack...but the Fright kit is still in the wings, literally, waiting to "fly" out!

Remember...we sell only at Deco-Pages.com!

A pleasant fall day

Was setting here sorting through e-mails, answering what needs to be answered, posting, downloading and drifting off to dream land. Yup! Worked all morning, ate a quick lunch and off to get groceries with my little cart. One of these days I will actually take a photo of it and post it. I have talked about it to friends often enough. Anyway, got home and promptly put away everything and sat down at the computer with a large bottle of cold water and away I went. Next thing I realize I had dozed off while waiting for the network to give me the pages I want, and looking out the window at the beautiful blue sky. Did not last long, unfortunately. Is hard to doze well when you have your head propped up on your hand. ;) Am feeling bright eyed and bushy-tailed so to speak and will finish up what I started. What I was thinking about as I dazed into the sky was doing up a Halloween kit. We had talked about it before, decided no, not to bother this year, but now, think I will. Seeing all of the really adorable fall/pumpkin/Halloween themed layouts and kits around has put me into the mood. Guess that means no more day dreaming, dozing or even blogging...need to go to work! Have a wonderful fall day wherever you are!

Party Time!

Everyone loves a good party. In thinking about that, and knowing it was 1 year that Club Deco came into being and 2 years for Deco Pages.com. So, we decided it was birthday celebration time. The items could also be used for other parties and celebrations, such as showers, anniversary, going away....just leave off the candles!

Here is the description about this kit:

Its time to party!! Whether it be a birthday, anniversary, going away, having a baby, Paris Designs has the party kit for you. Bows, gifts, balloons, cake, candles, lots of fun, bright party colored paper and an invitation/journaling note you can make your own!


This kit includes:
35 background papers
9 bows
12 misc embellishments
6 word art
2 quick pages

218 MB

Only available at Deco-Pages.com!

August--Country Potpourri

"Check" it out!! Ohhh...sorry about the play on words. This was one of the most favorite kits so far. I love the country feel of this kit, and the picnic embellishments I am so thrilled with!! Again, Michel did a great job!! The bar-b-q has smoke! Hopefully you will have as much fun using this kit as we did making it. Below are the details:

Summertime! This is a time for picnics, family and friends. If you're like most of us you'll be snapping those photos left and right. With Paris Designs Country Affair those pics will fly from your camera to your pages.

Whatever you're looking for from picnic baskets to hot dogs or watermelon this kit is filled with elements to make your page jump. Color schemes abound fitting all your needs, from pinks, purples, blues, greens or beiges.

Included in the 96MB kit are:
28 backgrounds 12x12 300 DPI
2 Quick Pages
11 ribbons
57 assorted embellishments

Only available at Deco-Pages.com !!

July Kit

We did get a kit for July and August done before we left as well. Here is July's Journey Traveled. This one is perfect for any kind of trip you want to take, long or short.

Kit includes:
2 quick pages
65 misc embellishments
23 ribbons, straight and curled
24 back ground papers

This kit is 186MB total, with old fashioned ads for places to eat, stamps for mats, curled and straight ribbons for accents along with signs, different modes of transportation...and the list goes on!! Michel did a wonderful job on elements in this one, (We tend to split up doing things in the different kits, this is a team after all!) water around the ship, clouds around the airplane and balloon, not to mention smoke coming out of the train smoke stack. I could go on but you can see for your self. This kit can only be found at Deco Pages. Each of the countries seen on the European map are made separate as well as the complete map...in case you happened to live outside of the US or gone on vacation somewhere in that general direction.

Has it been more than 3 months?

It is so hard to believe that so much time has passed. Well, we did spend 6 weeks in Michigan, with many days resting in the sun, soaking up those rays on our tired bodies. During that time I don't think I spent more than a few hours on the computer. It was in the hot upstairs, and when I was not busy, running or doing something I needed to do, I was in the glider, reading a book. That's right, with a cold drink or hot coffee, depending on the time of the day. That was my "hiding spot" to relax and refresh. Normally, trying to read a book means a page when I get into bed, if I manage to stay awake long enough for a full page.

We visited family, friends, worked on the house and deck. Did not get everything done we wanted, but we never do. Had a nice time though!!

What did we do before we left? We got everything ready we could...and did get a couple of kits done. We had a ball with this kit...it was just bright and fun to do, complete with an empty bathing suit, laying ??? Where ever you want to put it... ;) HERE is the link for this kit! It is on sale right now for $4.00. What does it have in it? Here is the description and the contents of the kit...I will let you read for yourself.

This fun filled kit will supply all your summer scrapping needs, from quirky Quick Pages, to kites flying in the wind. It has everything you could wish for on a summer's day. Fill up that glass, kick off those shoes and grab Paris Designs newest kit - Sun Kissed to make your day complete. Kit includes:
24 patterned papers
6 plain papers with texture
9 arrows/signs
12 brads
6 drink glasses
7 overlays
3 quick pages
8 straight ribbons 17 inches long
9 curled ribbons, 12 inches long
8 staples
9 drink stirrers
3 kite and 3 butterfly tags
30 other assorted embellishments

Total 178 MB/139 items

Paris Designs~Track and Field Kit

This kit was a special request from a Deco-Page member. She said there was nothing out there for Track and Field so we came up with something. This was definitely a shared experience between Michel and I, and you can usually tell by the different styles. We figure that we compliment each other so that works well. Talk about learning a lot! You are forced to learn all kinds of things when you design. But it is loads of fun (lots of work also) but we enjoy it. Each month I think, OK, we are coming up with zero for new ideas and each month we manage to come up with something new. Guess we can say we get a medal for this kit, for crossing the finish line and the fact that we don't quit trying.

Leaf Melody Spring

The kit I worked on and did all by myself... and is in the store. I was really happy with it, although it doesn't have Michel's touch. It is called Leaf Melody~Spring, and the preview should blink (I say that because it is doing nothing at this moment!) It has been a busy month and it is almost over. The month, not the busy time. Ever just KNOW you are behind or just barely keeping up? Well, I know that. We are still designing away...but not much else is getting done except for designing and work. Yes, I know, other things must get done also, but at this moment in time it is not happening. I hope your month is working out better!

3 new members on our CT team!!

We also have added 3 new members to our creative team. Welcome ladies!!

Physioscrapper, franlk, and Northlight have joined our team, bringing us all around the world.
Again... WELCOME to Paris Designs!!

We have people from Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden, Philippines, South Africa, Australia and France! I would say that pretty well puts us all over...and we love it. Working with all of the different ladies is and has been a joy to us and they all do such great work. It is always a pleasure and quite often also fun to see what they have created out of the kits we send them. They all seem to know how to 'scrap outside the box' in their thinking and that is great. We really appreciate all they are doing.

Great job team!!

Been a busy couple of weeks!

Wow... I thought I was keeping up with things here and see I am behind, again. Michel and I have managed to put another kit into the store, Ever After. It was a big change from our normal strong, rich colors that Michel prefers...this is more of what I love. Soft, frilly, gems, lace, bows and ribbons that shimmer and are almost transparent. The flowers we added were from real flowers so they are very life-like, right down to a small bug on one!! We also got another kit into the Club, for club members.

This month the Deco-Pages club is close to a giga in items for club members to download. That is not a small amount of items!! Be sure to go to Deco Pages and check it out. They are also voting on a new logo to change the look at the site, we have just put out a CT Call for the Deco Store... new things are happening all through Deco-Pages! If you have not checked it out before, be sure to do it now! Deco-Pages.com

Ideas are just bouncing around!!

The wonderful thing about designing is one thing leads to ten others. Of course that is providing you are not in a creative dry spell. I am setting here this morning looking at the sun shining finally, our "badly in need of cleaning" apartment and a list of the next things I need to try and get done and think "I want to go out for a walk." I should but I won't, unless I pack a little lunch and make it during that time. With the camera of course.

I was looking through the site, reading threads and coming up with all kinds of ideas about add-ons to the kits we have, splitting them up, our next kit going into the club (is a fun and very colorful month coming!!) and know it will be a busy weekend and that I need many more days of being able to set at the computer uninterrupted (meaning not fixing meals, not sleeping, not going to work, you know the little things) to be able to complete my list in a timely fashion.

I have some kits to work on for the creative teams I am on as well. Just picked up an adorable one from Mona Minnie at Scraptures, called Fruity Fresh and a package of double stitched frames to go with it. I think it will make some great layouts, her kits always do!! I also have one from Carolyn Rupley at Deco Pages, Day at the Beach and two from Mary Ridgway, also at Deco Pages, Golden Summer and Simplicity. Get my thought process here? I am definitely thinking of summer, fresh fruit, beach time, picnics, vacation.... you got it. Also a great time to come up with even more ideas to create!

Well, so much for my dreaming of what is to come.... back to work!

Our Wonderful Creative Team!

As of right now we have 5 people officially on our creative team (not counting myself). They are, in alphabetical order, Cinna, Colette, MrsB, NW Lady, and Tacha. Their layouts using our kit are popping up around in different sites. Deco-Pages is a sure thing though. Michel created a "blinkie" for them to put into their signature. So if you see this anywhere in a gallery, you know they are one of our wonderfully creative team members!! Leave them some love and let them know what a great job they are doing in their creations!

Well Dressed Man

This is our 3rd kit actually in the store. It is exciting to watch our kits grow. Each time we get one finished we end up with 2 or 3 more ideas brewing, not enough time to do them all, YET! I have done 3 layouts using this kit, and hardly touched it. I also found it to be very versatile to use. Doing this helps me decide what else we may need or want in the kit, or, what doesn't work well. Hope you like it as much as we enjoyed working on it! This can be found under Paris Designs in the Deco-Pages Store!

A Mad Ride in Time

Ever since we became a real design team, time has just sort of become on a different zone for me. I think of it as Paris Designs Time Zone. My days just disappear, running from thing to thing, trying to stay at least semi-caught up, at least not going further behind. Well, it was not working. I ended up resigning from being a moderator at Gotta Pixel. Miss all the great people there as I don't get there as much, as often, nor for the same thing. Now I just come and go there, like any other member. That happened Sunday, May 20. Today, I resigned from Scrap2Basics. I learned a lot from doing all of the different things I did, but love where we are at now. Not only at the Deco-Pages site, but also as a design team working together. Speaking of which...we now have 3 kits in the store!! You saw the one below, here is a preview of the 12 quick pages that are packaged up and in the store. I had a ball with these. A good friend, Cinna, helped with 3 of them, she loves to do quick pages! She is also on our creative team so she gets to work with the kits. I will tell you more about our CT team shortly. Hope you enjoy seeing them! They can be found at the Deco-Pages Store!

Shaina's Birthday

Shaina's birthday was yesterday. Of course I for some reason was sure it was the 27th. Her mom laughed at me and said...it is not for 2 more days. I said, are you sure? She laughed harder and said, yes, I was there. So...I said, ok, don't give her the e-mail cards yet and I will recall on Sunday. They both had a good laugh over the fact that Gma Patti got confused. I said, just think, in ?? number of years, you will be like me. That got more of a gulp than a laugh, but I got a good laugh from it! I did a quick layout of Shaina with the new kit. Ok, since you asked so nicely again... here it is.

The photo is actually 2 different ones. The background of it is from their trip to Paris at the terminal in Detroit...where it plays music and changes colors. The part of the photo with her was when they took the photo of her on her great grandma's bed after getting her hair all braided. I just extracted the 2 areas and put them together for the layout. Digital is so wonderful... no more pitched photos because they are not what we wanted or turned out badly. They can always be used for something!! There are 3 of us who are Taurus. Shaina, Michel and myself. My daughter is Aries. A bunch of strong wills there! Well...it is late and I am off to bed.
Night all!

We did it!!

Well, we actually uploaded our very first kit into the store today. Had loads of little bugs to work out but it is done! Yipee!! You want to see what it looks like?? Ok, since you asked :) here is the preview of it. You can look at a closer detail at the store at Deco Pages. We had a ball making it, must have said several times, ok, all finished. Only to have him come home the next day and say, I made a couple more things for the kit... want to see? So I would laugh, say sure, great, look at them, and they were... but the kit kept getting larger and larger. We are already discussing an add on as he was "thinking, oh, there are other things we could do for the kit also. LOL. Here is the link! We are both thrilled with it, hope you are too :)! Deco-Pages Store!

Trying my hand.... and now we try our hands together!

Big news!! Michel and I have been accepted as a design team at Deco Pages!! I have really not said much to anyone, but now it is official, I can say it. Interestingly I also entered a contest the same day I was put on the team, for designing the banner. My design is above. The voting will be after April 30. who knows, maybe it will win! The kit I used was Mary Ridgeway's January Club Kit, at Deco Pages. It should be in the store soon for sale separately. It was a big decision and step for us. Up to now I have been "dabbling" in design, and heavy into creative team (CT) work. I love that aspect, but as that is also needed, designing quick pages, doing CT work for for our own kits, I am getting both worlds. My list of things to do has just gotten much much longer with the acceptance to the team though. I am lucky my hubby takes an interest in design also and we can do this together. We can spend hours working on new items, papers, discussing colors, what we need, changes that need made. Now if we could just get a "wife" to clean the house and make the meals, life would be wonderful. This wife doesn't seem to do a good job of that, spends way too much time here in front of the computer (laughing). And with that you would think we would be loosing weight. Guess all of that setting does not help because that is not happening either! Keep watching... you will be some of the first to see our creations!

A Friend in Need

I have a wonderful friend. Well, I have many, but this one comes and goes to Paris periodically and we manage to have a lunch, a talk and lots of laughs. We always laugh together. She and her husband lost their dog a couple of years ago. It was a horrible time for them. I received a note from her 2 weeks ago I believe, said they had "adopted a new dog, it was time". When she told me poodle, I thought, no way... you see dogs with their owners and see why they go so well together. For me she needed an Airedale. Tall, flowing, thin... moves with a natural grace just like my friend. Well, I received a photo last week of just the dog and I though, hmmm... just maybe because the dog for one thing is obviously tall, his head is the same height as the back of her couch. Poof went the picture in my head of this noisy small toy poodle. (I have known many like that unfortunately!) This morning while trying to wake up I was reading my e-mail.

Side note here... for those of you who get e-mails from me in the morning, you should realize it is the very first thing I do with my 1st cup of coffee, so if it does not make sense at points within the body of the e-mail, you now have the knowledge of why!

Where was I? Oh yes, my e-mail this morning. She sent me a new photo of her with the dog that her husband had taken. She was taking a well needed break from cleaning before company arrives and was relaxing with the dog. Poof went the remaining photo in my head of them and the dog I had thought would be great. Nothing can beat the real thing! This is what I call a friend when needed.

OBSERVATIONS FROM RIVER RIDGE

Somewhere I have a sign that says: “Are we having fun yet?” I should have found it and put it in the window of the van as Terry left with a string of errands to do in town. Might have given people a chuckle as they struggled to keep their vehicles on the road and hats on their heads in the wind we are having today. The weather forecast was right on with the warning of high winds. It always fascinates me to watch the trees in winds of scary velocity. Amazing so few lose their balance or lose limbs. Last Sunday there was wind during a rainstorm. First-born son was helping Terry prepare an area for re-seeding. He was raking and about an hour after he finished a large white pine branch came crashing down where he was working earlier. Sure would have been a bad way to start the week if he had been beaned with that branch. Could have killed him.

I keep trying to equate the roar of the wind with spring because after all this IS a spring snow and windstorm but it sure sounds like winter wind. The last hurrah of winter I hope.

I wrote the words above on Wednesday. Today is Thursday and the blowing, drifting and snow accumulation is still with us. The roar of the wind has not diminished so on we go with this storm of Easter week. A friend emailed they were back in SW Michigan from their winter as snowbirds. “We returned to this mess” was the message. Then he made the comment they will be interested in what I find nice to say about this storm. Hmmm – let me see – I was missing the few days of not having the woodstove warmth and smell and now we have that again? How about the extra moisture is good for the water table? How about the birds are clinging to, underneath and nearby the feeders continually so we can watch them up close and personal all day long? Oh yes, I love the sculptured drifts the wind whips up for us? Plus the awesome power of nature is showing its strength? We are in the middle of it here in the forest and that is a sight to behold. Yes I know, I am stretching it but those are positive things. There are negatives of course. A drift on our hill has River Ridge Road closed. In fact a huge drift had to be shoveled out of the way before Terry could open the overhead garage door and get out the snow thrower. Reluctantly we are going to have the road plowed tomorrow. I say “reluctantly” because the ground is thawed and that means lots of dirt gets picked up with the snow. Our expert snowplow guy says he will just make a path, not push anything back on the sides so there should be a minimum of mess. We do need the road open for safety reasons though and currently we cannot get out. We are missing a dinner party tonight we had been looking forward to attending. The outdoor chores related to the coming of spring are certainly on hold. All are negatives.

Ten days ago the temperature was 71 degrees, the breeze was spring-like and the sun had definite warmth as I sat on the lower deck. Today the temperature is 22 degrees, I am saying; “what sun?” and the breeze has turned into the roaring wind of a snowstorm. However the good news is it is April and this is just a glitch in the countdown to spring breezes, the sound of peepers, the birth of baby birds and critters, and the end of winter. Really it is. Trust me on this one.

A weekly column

A dear friend of my mothers writes a weekly column and sends it out over the e-mail. Unfortunately she sends it as an attachment and my mom can't get it. So, now she sends it to me and I copy paste, take out extra spaces, make it smaller, and then send it to my mom. As I was reading it over this morning, I thought what a nice column it was...and that I should add it to my blog. I think this week I will put a layout I did, feels appropriate for the column.

OBSERVATIONS FROM RIVER RIDGE
by Ann Blakely

Because of a bunch of testosterone crazed tom turkeys I was up much earlier than I wanted this morning. When you hear them gobbling off in the forest it is muffled and actually is a happy sound because it is a harbinger of spring. However the happy part is not present when they are right outside the bedroom window. Unless you have heard a baker’s dozen of strutting toms gobbling all at once, you have no idea the intruding loudness. Terry can sleep through it, but not me, so I got up and started my day. I looked out and not only were they strutting and gobbling in the driveway, they were pooping all over - very rude of them.

This past week has seen many changes that herald the march toward spring.
The chippies are out. The raccoons are out. The geese have come back according to our upriver neighbors plus they saw a robin and a redwing blackbird. The snow pack is shrinking rapidly, the river is rising, the roof is nearly bare and even though the temperature is currently only 28, it is bright and sunny, so the remaining roof and deck snow is continuing to melt. The deer yarded up here to be near open water have started moving off to their summer grounds. Now we are left with trails of deer poop and the ever-smelly turkey poop appearing out of the snow and thawing to cause a barnyard like fragrance wafting through our clearing when the wind is in the “right” direction. Otherwise the scent carried on the wind is that of coming spring. Not yet the earthy smell of the forest floor, but a promise of it.

As the snow melts from under the feeders, a winter’s worth of seed shells is exposed. Squirrels are digging through them for missed seeds. Yesterday there were four black squirrels and two red squirrels so engrossed in digging into one of the piles they were paying no attention to each other.

We are into that annual ritual of the college basketball tournaments. March 2005 was the first time Terry could watch every single game if he wanted to as he had retired the end of ’04 – and mostly he wanted to. He still does and in-between games and at half times, he goes outdoors and does chores or gets something to eat and then back to rooting for his favorites. I will watch a game here and there but life goes on for me during March Madness while basically it slows to a crawl for Terry. He has wireless headphones so even if he has to do something else – of mild importance - because nothing could be more important than the game – he can wear the headphones without missing any court action. Makes him happy and that is good enough for me.

As the snow melts I am anxious to see what if any damage has been done to the trunks of various shrubs. The last couple winters voles have gnawed extensively on several of them. Plus this winter the red squirrels ate so much bark off the big lilac by our bedroom window that some large branches fell off. Not a good thing. Terry says the lilac is very hardy – I hope he is right because it is badly scarred.

I can hear both goldfinches and chickadees singing right now. Such cheery little voices. Are they serenading the winding down of winter and the coming of spring – or maybe just the joy of a bright blue sky and the precious gift of life. Sounds like something we should serenade too.