Just 40 Days

Today is the last day of September and I'm home, recovering from foot surgery and realized that I have not written since the last day of July! It makes me wonder why I (and most people) tend to hide when things are not going well.  Is it because we think that no one really wants to know how busy, poor, or how your health really is?  Or is it because we are afraid they will judge us?  What is it? All my life I've believed that God put so many people in the world to help each other.  How can I forget that and go into hiding from people?  Right now I'm hearing Barbara Streisand singing...People, people who need people...are the luckiest people in the world. I hope that you hear more from me and that I continue this form of therapy: expressing my thoughts and feelings through writing and sharing them via the internet.

50th Birthday Present Five years ago, I bought myself a birthday present:  a Pilates reformer.  I was introduced to Pilates in 2007 when I won a local contest: Weigh In to Win, sponsored by the YMCA , Mercy Weight Management , and  WTOL .  There was also a grocery store involved but I can't remember it's name and it has since closed. I won a personal trainer whom I call Sgt. Becky  who was a certified Pilates trainer.  I did pilates two or three times a week during the contest for nearly a year.  It changed my body.  I lost nearly 90 pounds and went from a size 2X to an 8. When the contest was over, I couldn't afford to do it as often, but did it as much as I could.  After buying my own reformer, I used it once or twice a week at first and then it became my Sunday morning ritual for the next couple of years.  I grew to a size 12.  Then I used it less, and less --- weekly turned into monthly which turned into semi monthly and ...

Haylee Dear Haylee, Sometimes, when I'm missing you, I wear your sunglasses.  I want to see what you've seen.  I want to be where you've been.  I want to be close to you. I have several pair of your glasses.  Some you gave to me when you got new ones and others I got after you left.  Some are really scratched up and I don't know how you saw out of them, but I wear them anyway. I miss you.  I feel close to you when I wear your sunglasses. I'm so glad that I have them. Love Mom

Today was a long day. What does that mean?  All days have twenty-four hours... Perspective:  My friend Pat, woke up today to bury her husband of three years.  He was 68 when he died.  She told me yesterday "I just found him!  We didn't have enough time."  His birthday is in two days. Perspective:  My granddaughter Carly is waiting for her other grandmother to pick her up so that she can visit with her for two weeks.  (Carly has not seen her in over a year.) Perspective:  I take most Fridays and Mondays off in the summer: creating long weekend/short vacations for myself.  Thursdays are my Fridays...I love Thursdays! Today is Thursday...it was one of those long weekends/short vacations.  It started off with me packing, saying good bye to Carly who will be visiting the other grandmother for two weeks.  I went to work and then left for the funeral of  Terry Bowbly  husband to my friend Pat.  I processed ...

I really didn't want to do it...but I did.   I downloaded   PokemonGo My oldest son, Derrick, who will be 34 next week, was mentioning it about 10 days ago, saying to get ready?  Then my youngest son, Paul (28) and my niece (29) and her boyfriend came up to lake last weekend and that's all they were doing: Catching Pokemon! They were hoping to catch some on  Lake Wawasee  but were afraid to take their phones on the boat. I remember drawing the Pokemon characters in Kidpix in 1996!  My students could guess who I was drawing after I drew the first line!  It was all the rage!  and it appears, its all the rage now, twenty years later, in 2016. So here I am, at a  google conference  with a bunch of techies and we are talking about Pokemon Go!  I'm at the hotel, not really hungry for dinner as lunch was HUGE!  Thunderstorms are approaching so I decide to see if there are any Pokemon in the area. Guess what?  There...

I like to drive.  I also like to go a different route on the way home than I took on the way there.  Life is too short to take the same way twice. I've always been a map person.  I like the physical paper nearby to check - just in case.  I was never a AAA member, so their popular 'Trip Tix'  was not an option for me.  But in the late 1990's, I discovered Map Quest and my life became a little simpler.  I did a little research, entering the beginning of my route and my destination, pressed print and viola!  I had written turn by turn directions that included a map.   I didn't need to buy one of those GPS devices and attach it to the dashboard of my car. Ten years later, when I took a road trip to Florida with my son Paul, he insisted on using technology from his phone for directions.  Thank God, I still threw the printed directions into the car as he lost his 'signal' several times in the mountains and we were driving blind.  P...

Skylar & Hayden So I've been at the lake for about 36 hours and the more time that passes the better I feel.  I don't know if it's baby Hayden, or 2 year old Skylar, or sharing with Justine.  I feel useful and I hurt less each day.  The wound from my incision is a bit angry with me.  I went to school Thursday without socks ... in the boot...the sweat and irritation caused most of the scab to come off.  It is angry and painful.  Even with that, I feel calm. I think it's the lake.  The water calms me.  I look out when I feel overwhelmed and it's ... just there... moving...flowing...free.  I love the water.  I have always been drawn to it...and I'm not a swimmer!  But I don't drown. Perhaps that's life...It's free, flowing, calm, and exciting... living.  When I was younger, I thought of life as a roller coaster...I love rollercoasters!