It has been said that a woman?s home is a reflection of her personality. It tells people who she is and what she cares about. The home reveals the fundamental qualities of her soul. For men, it is a place to drop their underwear on the floor. For the past five years every single wall in our house was beige, a color that is NOT a reflection of my soul. Still, I refused to let the wall color suffocate my personality and I decorated the rooms in a manner that reflected my true self. Six months ago I decided to get the interior of the house painted. I deliberated at length. I brought home hundreds of paint samples. Its difficult and time-consuming to uncover all of the aspects of your personality and determine which of those aspects should be reflected in each room. It?s a very strenuous process. In the end, I figured it all out with a little help from my painter (Lisa). She observed and revealed some bolder aspects of my personality of which I was not aware. I?ve known myself for 52 years and I am Whispering Wind and Baby?s Breath. She knew me for 10 minutes and saw Baked Terracotta and Vintage Claret. It?s scary. As the painting progressed, I have to admit, I had a little identity crisis going on. The second day into the project I came home on my lunch hour and walked through the house to view my newly-revealed personality. I returned to my pickup, flipped down the vanity mirror, and asked the age-old question, "Who am I?" Since then I have "found my self" and as I walk through the house and view the rooms, I can truthfully say that I am far more interesting than I thought. If you decide to paint your house, stop by the library to get some ideas. Whether you?re Whispering Wind of Baked Terracotta, you?ll find lots of guidance here. There are also some fabulous sites on the Internet to help you make your choices. We can also provide you with excellent choices in new fiction this week. "Some Kind of Miracle" by Iris Dart. Cousins Dahlia and Sunny Gordon were best friends growing up, bound by a shared love for making music that was as pure, powerful, and radiant as the California sunshine. They promised they would stick together all the way to the top. But a darkness was already descending on Sunny, one that would ultimately plunge her into a nightmare of solitude and schizophrenia. After long years of fruitless struggle, Dahlia still dreams of making it in the Los Angeles music business. A lucky break has brought a composition she and Sunny wrote long ago to the attention of a powerful Hollywood producer. Dahlia must find her cousin in order to secure the rights to the song that will win her fame and fortune. But Sunny Gordon now inhabits a place of madness and despair, and her obstinate refusal to sign a contract infuriates Dahlia and strengthens her resolve. Dahlia will do anything to get what she wants ? even if it means moving her tragically damaged cousin, demons and all, into her own home. Yet selfish motives and greed are leading Dahlia somewhere she never imagined she'd go. For the first time since she was a girl she will have to put someone else's needs before her own, and her life will be unexpectedly transformed in the process. And sometimes, even when real life reaches its cruelest and lowest ebb, miracles do happen. The library will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and open regular hours on Friday and Saturday.
