Life Among the Living

Walking the dog...and other adventures in weight loss

2011-07-02T08:44:00.002-04:00

If you look back in my blog, you'll come to the year I lost a ton of weight, loved exercising, eating healthy, wearing skinny clothes and won a cruise!
What happened you may wonder? Why would I stop eating right, exercising and store those skinny clothes in bins? Life got in the way...
I took a long look at recent photos of myself and while I was seeing with open eyes what I truly had done, I decided I needed to jump back on the Fat Flush Wagon.

Fat Flush... its a book by Ann Louise Gittleman which outlines a protocol of healthy eating and exercising. You detox your body, you eat healthy foods low on the glycemic index and you lose weight. Simple.
I gathered my supplies needed, ordered my vitamins and picked a day to start.. May 28th. Funny thing, 4 yrs ago that was the exact date I first began this.

Its now July 2nd and I've been eating healthy for an entire month and taking Spencer, my crazy now 9 month old puppy, for long walks daily...sometimes twice a day depending on his energy level. We walk anywhere from 1.5 to 4.5 miles a day. He's my exercise coach! All I have to do is look at him in his kennel and feel like he needs to go out and walk. Or maybe its the barking tail chasing and jumping against the kennel fence when he sees me! He's great company... walks great on lead, checks himself to make sure he is still in 'heel' ... by that I mean he turns his head, touches his wet slimy nose on my knee and then licks my leg! not a comfortable feeling in shorts. gross.

I'm down 17 lbs so far! and have had few pit stops (where I grab a klondyke bar or a pretzel!) along the way. If you find me going for that stuff...remind me of the bigger picture!

Lisa

2011-05-02T23:37:00.000-04:00

A beautiful song to share with you all. I fell in love with the singers Miten and Deva Premal the first time I heard this song. Its one I'd like to share with you.
Lisa

Its so FLUFFY!

2011-02-06T11:31:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl, the idea of snow and snowstorms made me absolutely giddy! I would pull on my snow pants, jacket, boots, hat and mittens and head out to explore my yard that transformed into a whole new landscape with the addition of snow. Building snowman was a must!
I grew up in a neighborhood that was filled with kids. Every house harbored anywhere from 1 to 5 kids ensuring one would never lack for a playmate.
One such house, sat on up on a hill and abutted a neighboring house behind it that was up on yet another hill. I do know that we also used it as a shortcut to get to our elementary school. We wore quite a groove in the yard with our comings and goings. On winter days, the hill would be transformed into the perfect sledding spot. We would congregate on the hill with our sleds...the real wooden ones with red runners. We wore that hill of snow out until it became a hill of ice...and then it got interesting.

I recall a time when someone had built a ramp at the bottom of the hill where the two yards met. Flying down the hill on your sled and hitting the ramp caused some interesting circumstances.. and injuries. We had an ice storm around this time and the hill was then a sheet of ice...no fun for trying to sled on...and then someone..was it Marcia? Joanne? Mark? Bob??? came up with a grand idea.... lots put on our ice skates and try it out! The idea that one could hit that ramp on skates and sail through the air was genius! Was it a success? Were there injuries? I remember falling and getting a bloody nose and it was lucky that Joanne's mom was a nurse so I was patched up quick and sent back out. I don't recall anyone else bleeding or crying. I do remember going back for more though and staying until it was to dark to see and we were all shivering in our wet winter clothing.

Here in the North East, we have had a snow storm that has dumped anywhere from 5" to a foot and a half at least once a week. My children, now teens, prefer not to go out exploring but would rather hole up with the typical winter survival gear... video games, movies and junk food. Me? I still walk around the yard or photo interesting aspects of it with its fresh coat of fluffy snow. I've asked the kids to go build a snowman but they won't....so today, I stepped back into my 'little' self enjoying the sunny skies and mounds of snow, that just happen to be the perfect snowman building snow.......

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass

2010-11-24T14:32:00.000-05:00

No one said life with children would be easy. Giving birth to each of them, while toted as 'the best days of my life' also ring true with the statements... he/she almost killed me! You worry about weight gain and growth charts, rashes and teething and you say.. This to shall pass.

They turn into toddlers and you worry excessively over the mile stones of crawling, sitting up, gaining weight, or not gaining weight and of talking. You are excited about their ability to walk, talk dress and undress and then when the running starts, the talking is inappropriate or excessive or they change 17 times a day into different outfits.. you wonder why you ever encouraged them to do such things in the first place! and you utter many times over... "This too shall pass.".. and sometimes it is said through gritted teeth.

Grade school happens and you worry more about what is said on the bus... and they do pick up new words and phrases on that big yellow vehicle! You stress over friends they choose, parties they may or may not be invited to, reading ability/levels, writing, spelling and math, stranger danger, sports teams they may or may not make, and outside influences... and then they hit puberty. As always you utter "This too shall pass".

Your worries turn to those faced by teens, acne (will it scar), dances and dates, school work overload, stresses, first jobs, driving and how to get them to not only do chores but go to church with you! They stay up late and sleep in on the weekends, they eat you out of house and home and they express their opinons,, freely, loudly... usually thinking yours are either archaic or just plain wrong.

This week I have teen stressors in my life that are worrying me and my teens. I know it is a stage and it will end some time in the near future. I just hope that future is quick.

Its funny how I look back and remember falling in love with the idea of raising my own children longing for the day. Its days like today that make you stop and wonder what where you thinking of. But good or bad you wouldn't trade them for the world.

To all the moms and dads of teens out there... I not only say this but heed my own mantra.. This Too Shall Pass....

My sister just posted this on Facebook...how appropriate!

bird

2010-11-19T00:40:00.005-05:00

Decided to try my hand at selling my photography by turning them into notecards. The bird below is an example. I'm selling the cards in groups of 5 for $20 +shipping. Any of my photography can be turned into notecards if anyone is interested. If you are, drop me a note!

When October Goes

2010-10-31T20:25:00.001-04:00

I'm always sad to see October end and take with it the beautiful colors of the season. This weekend I spent pretty much on my own. Because it was the holiday weekend, many of my friends had outings with their families. My own children had social engagements.
So I grabbed my camera and went out on my own "October End" walk through the center of town.
I'm thankful to have had the time to do this... enjoy the photos :) below and the video above.

Goodbye October... hello November.

Happy Fall

2010-10-21T07:25:00.000-04:00

Fall, like for so many, is my favorite season. I love the cooler temperatures, wearing sweaters and the way the leaves fall lazily from the trees. Yesterday I brought along my camera as I ventured through the back roads on my way to work. My intention was to stop and grab some photos at a beautiful pond that is inhabited by a handful of swans. Unfortunately, all I managed to do was take in the sights visually as my camera battery was dead. I'll again this morning.
So for now, I'll post a photo I took up back one morning last week... enjoy the colors of Fall :)

Facebook | Videos Posted by Santé et beauté pour tous!! The Meaning of ...

2010-08-28T10:17:00.001-04:00

I came across this video on Youtube today.

It seems to be something I personally need to really pay attention to.

Life is changing again around here and feeling a bit stressful with school starting up for the younger two, the eldest heading back off to NYC and for me, a new job, with a considerable pay cut and a longer commute to boot.

If I were to take the advice of the video and 'keep a gratitude list' I could start off with what most would... family, home, enough money to pay the bills and a little extra to use for something fun.

My list though would hold a few things specific to me... abundance...while I don't always see it clearly, it is there. The abundance shows in the earned income at the end of the week that I can add to the account in order to pay a bill or buy the groceries for the week. But more than the paycheck the abundance is in my heart, making me feel like I have purpose and my skills are needed. Everyone needs that kind of feeling. It is there in the faces of my students who show me an abundance of love and laughter. They shine so brightly for the hour they are here for tutoring. I've watched and guided them as they have come to me struggling with reading and walk or skip out to greet their parents with big smiles showing the sticker they got on a paper we did. I enjoy the comments parents make about their child saying they can't wait to go to tutoring... I am amazed my child likes tutoring in the summer..who likes tutoring? Well, my students do :)

The other item on my list would be that I am grateful for 'hope'. Some may say...that is a bit silly to have on a gratitude list...shouldn't you be grateful for things you have already and not for hoping for them? Not me... I am grateful that I have hope... hope for a future in work, in love.... in life. We are not guaranteed anything in this world. At my age I have hit the lottery with pink slips and I will not ever be able to work in a position long enough to earn a retirement pension. I hope for a classroom teaching job or at least a job that pays me well enough and makes me happy. In love... I hope for that special someone to come into my life. Its a big hope and one that hasn't become reality since Tom.

And hope in life? To continue to be healthy and happy, raise my children and someday be able to hold and cuddle my own grandchildren.

I'm sure there is more I could add to my list...but I'd have to start writing it down first.

20th

2010-06-23T21:03:00.002-04:00

Thoughts for today June 23rd, 2010

Outside my window...The sun has set and the tree frogs and crickets are singing. These are the singers of summer nights, the song that lulls me to sleep at night.

I am thinking... about today... only 20 years ago today. Today is what would have been my 20th wedding anniversary. I remember a day filled with hopes and dreams of a future I would share with my best friend. I recall it being a very humid day and having to go off in the morning to have my nails and hair done and my mother asking me to pick up the bags of rolls for the after party! haha of all things! The rain was off and on that day and I was little sad because of it. I remember getting home and everyone so busy with themselves that I dressed and readied myself. The little details that stayed with me that morning...The flower delivery showed up at the house with the wrong flowers and my brother had to run to fetch the correct ones! My niece was my flower girl and the basket of her flowers was so full of water she couldn't lift it, No one could find my Dad's boutonnière and he had on my going away flowers! haha, later we learned my cousin thought it was an extra and pinned it on her fiance :) At the church, my father told me I could back out if I wanted ummm nope thats ok dad! And then it was time. My best friend cried as he said his vows to me...awwww! and such a kiss he gave me! I was so happy!! and as I said I do, there was a clap of thunder!!! wow! We made it through the reception and then it poured! People kept saying "its a sign of fertility" (yes 10 months later Patrick was born!). We danced, we ate, we drank, we danced and then it was over and we went off to our Mexican Honeymoon... that is a story for another day!

I am thankful for...The eleven and a half years I had to spend with my husband, my best friend. I am forever grateful he came into my life and I wouldn't change a minute of it.

I am wearing... a collared shirt and shorts today..nothing fancy.

I am creating... nothing much at the moment... I'd like to create a clean house but the odds with 3 teens home for summer break are against me!

I am going...To Denmark with my sisters on Monday and am excited about the trip!

I am hearing... The airconditioner and some fight show on TV that Sam is watching.

One of my favorite things... A good book and a good cup of tea to snuggle down with, right now I am reading "Outside Boy" a story about a Tinker family from Ireland.

A few plans for the rest of the week: packing, a list of house rules, notes for mother in law who will stay with Sam and grocery shopping.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing.. see the top as I can't get the picture to move... These are our wedding bands. I wore them around my neck after Tom died and the filigree on Tom's ring broke and was repaired 3 times.. the first being in the first month after he died. I was holding them not to long ago thinking how the promise of a lifetime together was broken and how the rings seem to symbolize that more than the union of love we shared. Might be time to turn them into something else that is whole.

2010-06-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

While the sun was out a little this week, I got busy getting bird feeders filled. Once the bait was set, I grabbed my camera and waited.

The branch sat empty for awhile and when I bird chanced to have a snack, it quickly left when it detected any motion from me.

Finally a brave female bird checked out the area. I do believe she was assessing my threat to her well being here. And decided I was no threat at all.

She spent a lot of time nibbling on the peanut butter brick.

She sure was one brave..or very hugry bird. I would think the hungrier they are the less they care who is standing nearby. I finally moved the wrong way and she took off ending my photo journaling of her meal.

Tuesday's Daybook Thoughts

2010-06-08T14:26:00.000-04:00

Thoughts for today June 8th, 2010

Outside my window... I'm watching the rain fall in big fat droplets, collecting in puddles on the driveway and forming streams that course downward toward the street. The wind that kicked up is pushing the large grey rain clouds and the blue skies are beginning to peak out again as the rain recedes. Half my front yard is bathed in shadow and half in sunshine...

I am thinking... about the sun and hoping it will stay and dry out the ground as I am supposed to play golf in a few hours.

I am thankful for... my little dog Chloe who follows me from room to room and settles down keeping me company where ever I stop.

From the kitchen... I hear Patrick making himself some lunch. I'm sure when I go in later I'll find the dishes, condiments and open packages that will need putting away. One would think he could remember do clean up after himself.... college doesn't teach these things?

I am wearing... shorts and a T-shirt and finding it to chilly for the upper 60 degree weather we are having, only I'm to stubborn to put on something warm.... it is summer ya know!

I am creating... an alter... also can be looked at as space. Space to hold and honor my life where it is right now. Its not the easiest of tasks. After reading about alter making, I thought I'd try it.

I am going... golfing for the first time in the ladies league tonight. I'm pretty excited about it as I hope to make new golfing friends :)

I am hearing... rain drops dripping off the leaves onto the porch... the rain has just about stopped.

One of my favorite things... Lemon sugar powdered cookies... my great Aunt Lunda and my Grandma used to feed them to me... to this day I have yet to find them in my grocery store... but I keep looking!

A few plans for the rest of the week: I need to begin preparations for my trip in 3 wks. time to start making lists!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing..

The rain is drying up off the porch after soaking the yard. I found this reflective puddle very appropriate to go with my reflections today.

Simplicity in writing

2010-06-06T09:28:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine keeps a blog and I noticed this very neat entry that was set in the simplicity of answering questions. It from the simple woman's day journal. Today I thought I'd give it a try and seeing that I haven't devoted any time to writing..lets see what it may jog out of my cobwebbed brain.

Outside my window… I'm seeing the calm before the storm...literally. The skies are getting darker, humidity level is about 100% and the temperature is around 72 degrees... all the makings of a thunder storm. The news weather caster on the television has said it will come in with 75 mile an hour gusts so it will be time to tie down the deck furniture.

I am thankful for… the quiet of the morning to sit and think my thoughts and daydream some time away before the work of the day begins.

I am wearing… new pajamas :) that I bought yesterday on a shopping spree with my best friend.

I am remembering… that I have to work more on my resume and getting more applications out into the mail.

A few plans for the week… tutoring, working on the summer work schedule, sending out resumes and hoping for interviews, driving kids here and there, getting ready for a trip at the end of the month.

I am currently reading… The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...haven't made a dent in it yet ... we'll see how it is.

I am hoping… that today will be a good day.

On my mind… Tom...always Tom.

Hearing…. the fan.. birds and the weatherman talking about a 'little nor' easter coming Wed into Thurs...hmmm.

I am praying that……the higher good for my family in my jobless situation.

From the kitchen… kids have taken over the table and counter with their things...need to move those out... and need to get some grocery shopping done..I'd send them but wouldn't trust a car load of eggo and chips to come back.

Around the house…Let's not really go into the piles of folded laundry that need putting away or the wires and video game mess in the living room... at least I got the dishes and cups I was left into the dishwasher!

One of my favorite things…this won't shock anyone that knows me... my camera.

From my photo journal.........

The strawberries are ripening around here. I used to keep them in the side garden but the chipmunks always beat me to them. This year I chose to dig them up and put them into hanging pots on the deck close to the house. My thought process was that no animals would come near the house with people and dogs in and out... I was wrong. So far two of the ripened berries had big bites taken out of them... looks like I'm going to have to buy them at the farm stand again this year.

A new chapter begins!

2010-02-18T09:07:00.000-05:00

Christmas and New Years came and went with the obligatory parties and lots and lots of chocolate, cakes, icecream and well... JUNK! And yes, I imbibed!!!

With the coming of a long weekend (MLK Day) on January 15th, I decided to take action. I bought Ann Louise Gittleman's newest Fat Flush Book, entitled Fat Flush For Life and read through it. I then rejoined the online forum and began reading posts by those on phase 1. Seems they recommend starting with the 'classic' Fat Flush program and then once you have lost the weight, transition over into Fat Flush For Life.

So, off to pursue the thinner me who resides within. I'm back on the treadmill for my daily tourture... Did you know if you are not in the best shape and you set that thing at 3.5 to 4.0 miles an hour... not enough for a jog but only a really fast paced walk.. you can go flying off the end? Yea... neither did I!!
Needless to say that only happened once and now I've worked my way up to a nice 35 min work out that takes my pace anywhere from 3.0-3.8 mph and I stay on the dang contraption!!

So wish me luck! No cruises to set in my sights as the big prize at the end BUT I am taking a trip to honor my younger sister's 40th in June... so hopefully I'll land in Denmark a much smaller version of the self I am today!

Goodbye 2009

2009-12-31T12:20:00.003-05:00

“May you have love that never ends, lots of money and lots of friends. Health be yours, whatever you do and may God send many blessings to you.”

Irish Blessing

In the past decade...

I went back to teaching and worked with moderate special needs children as an educational assistant, worked as a special needs teacher for a year on a waiver, laid off after working thought the district in 4 different schools, got a job as a preschool teacher, a kindergarten teacher and then laid off again. I earned my certificate to teach a specialized reading program and began tutoring and went through an online program that earned me a Master's in Education.

I watched my husband take his last breath, grieved the losses we all felt, wiped away many tears from my eyes and those of my children. surpassed his age for the first time when I turned 40, participated in 2 South Shore Circle Bereavement groups, grief counseling and read many books on the subject hoping something would 'cure' me of this profound sadness, then wondered how we got here as I sent my children off to camps for grieving children and learned how to be a family again.

I marveled at the growth of my children as they went from elementary school kids to high school and beyond, witnessed many birthdays, lost teeth, learning to read, academic accomplishments and awards, cross overs from cub scouts to boy scouts, cheered at numerous little league baseball, soccer, concerts, plays and wrestling matches for all three children, drove countless miles to games and practices, helped with school projects, watched as one by one they went from elementary school, to middle school and then to high school, cried and cheered as my oldest graduated high school and then cried again after dropping him off at his college dorm, survived first dates and girlfriends, gained gray hairs teaching sons to drive and braved a new life of taking the kids on vacations to Washington DC, Cape Cod and New York.

I've shoveled snow, cleaned up after guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, hamsters, cats, chickens and dogs, learned to fix numerous small things around the house, dealt with frozen pipes, leaking sewage, broken toilets, windows and doors, painted rooms, redecorated and remodeled this antique home that was a dream of my husband's,

I've gained many new friends, kept my closest friends, lost 50lbs, gained it all back and look forward to gaining back that motivation and desire to be that person again.

The past decade has been a very busy one and not always filled with the happiest of moments but that is what makes life what it is. I came into this decade secure in who I was, only to have the rug ripped out from under me.. I've gained much and learned much in the past decade and know that I am not the person I once was.

This night I will send up wishes for peace of mind and heart and success in what we hope to attain as we strive forward. I send up these wishes not only for myself and children, but also for my extended families and friends.

Happy New Year!

2009-11-19T20:21:00.007-05:00

Never ruin an apology with an excuse. ~Kimberly Johnson

And so I apologize! I have been

MIA and just... well, to lazy to sit and write. The summer passed by in a blur it seems. So to recap.....

*May... puppies! Patrick graduated from High School and I graduated with from my master's program.

*June.... I was laid off from my job... yep, and right now,

teaching jobs are not abundant!

*July... law suit settled and life felt less burdened.

Patrick turned 18 and Meri turned 14! House construction also began with ripping out some horse hair plaster walls and laying new floors... I love how the house now flows!

*August...We felt we need to build an ark with the

amount of rain that fell over the summer. Summer was technically over before it began!

*September.. School came back in session with Meri joining the ranks of high schoolers and we moved Patrick into his New York dorm... I began to feel 'old'

*October... Sam turned 16 and obtained a learner's permit... yes, student driver here we come again! We welcomed a new puppy to the mix (a dachshund and said goodbye to the chickens)

Which brings us up to speed and to November!

Yesterday amid my busy schedule of tutoring, running people to and from school, and general errands, I celebrated a birthday. Today would have been Tom's birthday.

These gave me pause and I took some time to sit with my thoughts and think of the past with Tom and wonder who he would have been today. Would our values, wants, desires and future goals have been the same? I look at who I have evolved into the past 8 years and know I am not the same Lisa I was back then. I speak my truth about who I am and what it is I would like out of life these days. I am far from the uncertain woman I was.

Another Bunch

2009-05-15T19:24:00.007-04:00

And adorable ones at that! Chloe gave birth to another litter of little puppies. Wednesday night in the middle of the season finale of Lost, she went into labor. I deposited her into the maternity ward and the waiting began. The poor thing looked like a big tick ready to pop at any moment. She was a real trooper though and just lay down and waited without a sound.

Her water broke soon after her entrance into the 'ward' and within an hour and a half, she gave birth to a cute little boy. We nicknamed him "Hooie" as May 13Th is also my niece Hilary's birthday and who lives with the nickname "Hooie" compliments of my nephew Zack who couldn't say Hilary as a toddler.

The evening wore on with puppies arriving 15 minutes here, to anywhere from 1/2 an hour to an hour there.

All in all she delivered 4 black puppies with a small white splotch on their chests 2 boys and 2 girls.

She also delivered a little blonde girl so 5 pups in all!

We've had a very positive response to the sale of these little ones. Sam does want to keep the little blonde girl but we have Chloe and Libby... I'm not certain I want to take on another dog, let alone a puppy!

Word has begun to spread on Facebook, at work, and within the family...so I believe they will all be placed in loving homes.... and that's a good thing!

2009-05-08T23:46:00.004-04:00

I had to laugh at the cartoon I found above. For anyone who has been in or is in the process of a graduate level program... it hurts! As does staring into a high-powered flashlight! Two years ago I took on a task that I only dreamed would come to fruition. I decided with a lot of prodding from my friend Paula to get my Masters in Education. We looked at different programs and finally agreed to enroll in an online degree program through the University of New England located in Biddeford ME.
Last summer I was lucky enough to go to a summer workshop for Every Day Mathematics and visit this campus. It was in a beautiful setting. The only connection I'd had was through a keyboard and words on a computer screen.
Tomorrow is graduation day for all MsEd candidates who've completed the work. I am proud to be among them even though I will not travel to Maine tomorrow to walk across the stage.
I will think of the men and women who are attending graduation and send out my best wishes and thoughts to them. I am very proud to have been in the program with all of them.
It is funny though... I turned in my final paper the other night and having been so used to working on projects, writing papers or responding to online journals each and every day... I found myself a little lost and guilty feeling for coming home and just sitting. Looks like I can now finally get to my piled up fiction I've been wanting to read!

Goodbye Friend

2009-04-20T21:57:00.003-04:00

As a little boy, our friend Richard had the job of tending his family's goat herd. He told us he would get up, take the goats to a field and sit with them while they grazed. His job was to keep them safe from harm. His job was to scare off lions and other hungry beasts that would love to have a tasty goat for supper. Richard was 8 yrs old.

Once he told my children that when he took his goats out, he was confronted by a hungry lion. He was very scared and climbed a tree to save himself. The lion got one of the goats and ate it. He told my children that when he got home his grandfather was angry with him and switched him. The goats were their lively hood. My children loved that story.

This past Friday, we got a call from my best friend Paula, Richard's wife. Richard suffered a heart attack at work and died. Our reactions went from shock to tears. We have gathered with our friends and shared loving hugs and handed round tissues for the tears we've shed with one another.

I met Richard when I befriended his wife Paula back in 1993. We both had two boys who became good friends and remain so to this day. Meri came along and soon would be known as "Queenie" in this small circle. Out of my 3 children, I believe Meri had the closest relationship with Richard. She loved him very much and I believe the feeling was mutual. When Tom died, Paula was my anchor always there with a hug or wise words to help. Richard would take the kids to the movies or babysit. These friends became more like family to us. Richard would often tease Meri telling her that when she went on her first date, he would be there with a baseball bat to greet the young man! When she heard of Richard's death, Meri made mention of that.... Richard's sons told her not to worry, they will be there along with her two big brothers.

This week we will celebrate Richard's life, the life he lived as a young African boy and the life he came to love here as an American citizen. We will also hold and support Paula, Richie and Matthew as they walk along the path of grief we have known so intimately.

My children and I will miss his stories, wise cracks, and tidbits of wisdom...but mostly we will miss his wonderful hugs and his friendship.

Kidney troubles

2009-02-04T22:52:00.003-05:00

I guess one who is dealing with kidney stones would find the humor in this little cartoon. I sure do!
Tomorrow I'm off to have a stone surgically removed. I've been dealing with 'attacks' for the last week and a half. Each time I've contacted the doctor he's told me that it will pass any time ...only thing is, nobody seems to be telling the stone that! After some pretty intense periods of pain, the dr. has decided that tomorrow morning the stone is to be removed.
Wish me luck!

Farewell to the shrubbery....

2009-01-25T08:50:00.003-05:00

Ummmm I mean to Bush.

This past week seems to have a taste of 'camelot' to it. We've reveled in photos of the inaugruation, pictures of people wiping away tears as President Obama was sworn in, pictures of President and First Lady Obama dancing, kissing and enjoying the many balls they attended.... BUT my favorite photo out of all these?

Its this one.... Goodbye Bush. New blood, new hopes and aspirations have entered into the White House. :)

In memory

2009-01-21T17:47:00.003-05:00

In Memory Thomas R. Brennan 11/19/1962- 1/21/02

" 'Death, be not long.

Death, be not hard,'

we prayed.
But days stretched year-like

and when death came, God

it was not easy

as we had prayed.
Quiet, but not easy.
Forgive my complaints;

for precious to You

is the death of Your saints."

-Ruth Bell Graham

7 year itch

2009-01-18T16:13:00.005-05:00

Night Sky by Lisa Brennan 2002

Like a brilliant star
You entered my life
And in a rushing moment you left
Leaving me in a void of darkness

I stumble through daily tasks
Trying to remember
Had you really been here?
Or was it only a dream?

Proof of your existence
Greet me in threes
Keeping my feet planted
When all they long to do is run away

Standing alone
Rivulets of memories course down my cheeks
I search for hope
I search for you

Looking to heaven
Millions of stars dot the sky
I look for the one that may be you
One solitary star shines brighter than all the rest
This one I choose
To whisper my sadness to.

This week we mark 7 years. Seven years feels like such a shock. The children are no longer 'small children'. In 7 yrs they've grown and matured. I'm told that they are 'used' to our little family. They have adjusted to his absence in a way. While occaisions arise that cause them to miss having a dad, I have seemed to have fulfilled that missing piece for them. I often joke with them that I am "MAD" the mom/dad. I myself accomplished much this year and am still so very grateful for having had Tom a part of my life. He gave me so much.

I sit today wondering about the next 6 months, the next 7 yrs and well, the rest of my life. In May we are supposed to go to court regarding a wrongful death suit. I can only cross my fingers and pray that we will prevail and some worries will settle. Patrick will graduate from High School and hopefully move on to college. I'll graduate from my master's program (MsEd in education with a concentration in literacy k-12) and life will continue to move forward. I think of 7 years and wonder if the old saying 'feeling the 7 yr itch' could apply here. I itch for a life that feels a little more complete and settled. I then wonder if it ever feels that way for anyone. Can you be living a somewhat settled life and still feel incomplete? I'm almost certain you can.

Happy Holiday

2008-12-25T22:20:00.011-05:00

Inmate #0000001 ...yes you read that right...if she were in prison, this would be her mug shot. She deserves to be put behind bars...... but lets start at the beginning.... Christmas is here. The week before was filled with holiday shopping, cleaning and preparing the house. We enjoyed two weekend storms that brought lots of beautiful snow. This year for me was about simplifying the holiday season. I gave myself permission to not stress over the little things that may not get done.

Snow that fell for two days straight. We enjoyed watching it accumulate, reveling in the time just being together inside. The kids took the opportunity to do some sledding and throw a few snowballs...

and then clearing the drive when the snow was through filling the town with over a foot and a half of snow. We did get our shopping finished after all was said and done and Meri and I did some holiday baking while the boys were off bestowing gifts on their girlfriends.

Christmas eve was upon us before we knew it and I managed to dig out and put up the creche scene. The table was set in a simple manner this yearand I decided not to pull out the candle wreath ceremony and this felt not only okay to me but also to the kids. (see December of 07 if interested in just what that is all about). We enjoyed a lovely family meal and then time with good friends for some snacks, games and laughter. Morning came, but not to early (that's the joy of teens!) and we enjoyed opening gifts together and then enjoyed a wonderful Christmas breakfast.

It all went very smoothly and simply.....OR SO I THOUGHT..... remember this face? Yes...this one behind the bars??Well, if she were human, she'd be labeled.... in fact she'd be in treatment. She'd stand up with the words "Hello, my name is Libby and I am an addict"....yes that's right, she is an addict, a chocolate addict to be exact. After our lovely family time this morning we decided to head off to Christmas morning mass. While we were there, Libby was once again taken down into that dark abyss only an addict knows. The smell of chocolate was in the air and maybe that was all it took or maybe the temptation of the stockings up on the mantle were to much for here. Either way, we came home to quite a scene.... The back slider had been opened by Libby's partner in crime and the two were out frolicking in the snow. Not thinking to much about what they'd been up to, we walked into the house and found the crime scene. Libby had managed to get ahold of my Christmas stocking and emptied the meager contents out and devoured: 3 gold foil wrapped "Daddy Stars", 1 pkg of chocolate covered espresso beans and 1 Luna bar (chocolate peanut butter flavored). We believe that Chloe decided to wreck havoc with the bagged torn off present wrappings and bows while Libby was distracted with the stocking contents. (Chloe is known to walk around with bits of paper, newsprint and receipts in her mouth. I guess you could call her a paper junkie.) The room looked like a cyclone had hit and we followed a small trail of wrappers from the living room to Libby's bed..incriminating and damning evidence! They were both sentenced to time outdoors (in case vomiting should begin...dogs and chocolate do not mix). After their liberation, Libby is feeling her punishment and pain of her chocolate hangover.... sour tummy and extreme thirst.....serves her right! It is never a dull moment here....

2008-12-23T22:00:00.001-05:00

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

* Be direct and clear
* Listen to me carefully
* Don't judge me for my anxiety
* Work things through with me
* Reassure me that everything is OK between us
* Laugh and make jokes with me
* Gently push me toward new experiences
* Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

* being committed and faithful to family and friends
* being responsible and hardworking
* being compassionate toward others
* having intellect and wit
* being a nonconformist
* confronting danger bravely
* being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

* the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind
* procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself
* fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of
* exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger
* wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right
* being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

* are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn
* are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger
* form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent
* look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel
* are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

* are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty
* are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
* worry more than most that their children will get hurt
* sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz

First Snow

2008-12-09T20:42:00.005-05:00

"All is Calm' photo by.... me

"Lucy Van Pelt: It's too early. I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January. Linus Van Pelt: They sure look ripe to me. " from A Charlie Brown Christmas

We had our first snowfall! I'm looking forward to the impending storm that is heading our way as I type. We are ready with the snowblower parked in the shed and I've stocked up on the essentials and have the shovels and the camera ready!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T10:49:00.002-05:00

This year, I am thankful for many things.

In these unstable economic times,

I am thankful for my jobs (teaching and tutoring)

a roof over my head

and the ability to pay my mortgage

and my bills

sometimes just barely but they get paid.

I am thankful for my family

who wrap me up in their love and support

who are there when I need them

I am thankful

to carry with me the love

of wonderful man who was

taken from this world much to soon

I am thankful for my children

who, while keeping me on my toes,

make me smile and proud

each and every day.

I am thankful

to live in a country

where there are abundant choices

in everyday to where you want to live,

work and pray.

For small pleasures

like a hot mug of tea on a cold day

a long hot shower

soft sheets and blankets

a good book

For all these and more... I am thankfu

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours

Yes We Can!

2008-11-09T23:20:00.004-05:00

I've been MIA. All I've had to talk about was back pain....but I've finally made it in to see the doctor and after a week on prednisone, I'm happy to report I am pain free :) I await a call for an appt. to the pain clinic at which I will recieve cortisone shots to the spine...ewwwww not fun!!

The excitement in this household this past week was the election of Barack Obama. Yes, we are Obama supporters. I can't tell you how proud I was to be an American that night. To know that the majority is ready for change. It won't be easy, and it won't be a quick changing or a quick fix but I do believe the best candidate of the two won the election. There is a wonderful site called 52 to 48/48 to 52... the sentiments expressed are ones we need to embrace as a unifed country red/blue= fully American! http://www.zefrank.com/zesblog/archives/2008/11/52to48.html take a look.

Winner!

2008-10-18T09:41:00.004-04:00

Back in August, I had blogged about our Cape Cod vacation. I'd gone on a sunset cruise with my parents and M. The evening was perfect, the water like glass and I was enjoying the time I was spending with Mom and Dad. After we got home, I blogged and then uploaded this photo at http://capecod.planetdiscover.com/sp?p=/photogallery/index

The other day I recieved an email stating that my photo was chosen as a winner of their summer photo contest and that a professional photographer loved the composition and colors I'd captured. I've won a gift certificate to my favorite Cape Cod restaurant of my choice...so of course I picked Barbie Ann's! I've loved this place for years. I have many memories of going to Barbie Ann's with my dad for lunch and later when they moved to their current location it became a favorite of Tom's too. We would drive down Cape just to go to dinner there. Of course, last night I called my Dad to wish him a happy birthday (and sent a greeting to my sister Diane who shares the same date with my dad) and told him of the photo. He had seen it online and was all for going for a meal when I get the certificate!

Hugs

2008-10-17T17:33:00.003-04:00

I love this video....I could have sure used this guy around all week!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

A bone to pick

2008-10-12T11:20:00.004-04:00

Or maybe just one to repair.....I've been having some skeletal issues...particularly in my lower back. Seems I have bulging disks in my lumbar spine and I've been going to Phyiscal Terrorism..err Therapy... for it. I've been in a lot of pain so sitting at my computer has not been an option for more time than it takes to check email. My tutoring students are enjoying going for walks down the hall or out in the yard and being quizzed orally for their spelling!

Today is a good day though and I am physically feeling almost back to normal.
So lets catch up a bit...
I finished and passed over my portfolio box for work...never so glad as to get rid of that thing! The preschool is undergoing reaccredidation and since I was preschool last year, I was responsible for this year's teacher's box... I know, sounds a bit unfair doesn't it!?!

I'm back on Fat Flush after gaining a considerable amount back and going up sizes... I miss the excitement of dressing up and looking good in the skinner sizes! So I'm back to taking care of me and what I put in my mouth.

Sam turned 15 on the 10th. He keeps reminding me that in 1 year he can learn how to drive...lord help and preserve me!

2008-09-30T17:12:00.003-04:00

Its Tuesday, the every other Tuesday of the month. I just want to point out that I LOVE the every other Tuesday of the month because that is when Craig comes. Craig is my cleaning man...dude..guy.... it doesn't matter really...the only thing that really matters is that Craig arrives while I am at work and he cleans my house top to bottom. I often come home to happy little surprises. Last time Craig made my bed for me. I'd stripped the bed and threw clean folded sheets on the bed in my rush out the door. I'd intended to make the bed when I got home. Craig beat me to it. Today I arrived home and Craig had emptied the dryer of the clean clothes and folded them. Then put the wet clothes into the dryer. He cleans the corners of the rooms, organizes the kids kicked off shoes in the mud room, cleans the crevices of the cabinets and sink and just makes my house sparkle and smell nice. I LOVE every other Tuesday!! Before you get any ideas though... Craig is happily married to his partner John and does the little niceties because of who he is.

So come on over... take off your shoes and relax with me in my nice clean house...which will self destruct by Saturday as I have living tornadoes who reside here with me!

Catch up

2008-09-19T21:42:00.011-04:00

A lot has gone on since my last post. Last weekend I got to go to New York City for the first time ever. All I can say is WOW! I went with 4 friends to listen to an enlightened Master (guru) speak. It was very intersting but not as fun and interesting as walking through the city! One of my favorite jaunts was walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. We had a wonderful time in the city and now that I am somewhat familiar, I'd love to bring the kids.

Last week, the bathroom was finally finished! I love it!! Now to find some pictures and bathroom furnishings.... it actually echos right now :) haha! Only problems now... the water heater is going in my home and the back bathroom is now having plumbing issues!!!

Today the puppies went to their 'forever' homes. In a sense, I was very sad to see them leave. I'd grown quite attached to them. On the other hand though, I won't miss cleaning up the potty papers and pads or picking up stray dukies!

I took some photos first thing this morning. They loved romping around the kitchen, playing with Chloe, chewing on my toes and exploring various items. I do hope Chloe won't go through a depression and miss them terribly. Due to her having such an easy and successful time with whelping, we will be breeding her once more.

I also went onto my 'facebook' account this evening and came across this video my sister in law Laura recorded of herself. This is my brother's wife and she has the most amazing singing voice! I know she thought about singing in a band a year or two ago, don't know what ever happened but I for one love her voice and believe she should be singing and getting paid for it!What do you think??

Romping and Rambling

2008-09-08T21:33:00.010-04:00

We have only a few short weeks left with the puppies. Here are some updated photos.

We've been taking them out to play each day (and to potty). They love romping in the grass chasing one another and my feet!

Jake loves to run to people when we call or clap for him.

He is the most spirited of the 3 puppies and very social.

Here comes Phin! He is the least active. He prefers to sit and watch the others. He is a cuddle bug.

Oreo is very rambunctious. She is the alpha pup and loves to pin the boys!

Chloe will come outside for a few moments...just enough to give her pups a small snack.. I guess she's concerned about keeping their energy up!... She then runs back into the house leaving the pups alone. She's down to approximately twice a day nursing her babies. They do have sharp little teeth now, so who can blame her!

Bathroom! Yep its almost done! Today the plumber came through while I was at work and set the toilet. I'd gone out and bought lights, mirror, racks, hooks and TP holder the other day. Here is what it looks like now.

A fun meme

2008-09-01T13:46:00.004-04:00

1.Lisa 2.chocolate 3.Barnstable High 1982

4.grey/blue 5.Mel Gibson 6.water
7.Sicily 8.banana cream pie 9.happy
10.my little family 11.quirky 12. unknown

Here’s how it works:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to? (or, What year did you graduate high school?)
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

A favorite visit

2008-09-01T09:47:00.020-04:00

This Labor Day weekend we took our annual trip down to The Cape to spend with friends. We had a wonderful time sitting on the beach, walking in the drizzle to buy sweatshirts, hanging out playing games and just being together. Its a weekend we look forward to every year.

We eat, play and relax on the beaches of Brewster.

The water was cold but that didn't stop M!

M and J always have a great time together.

While the beach was relaxing, it was not the only activity for the weekend. We spent time enjoying the house they'd rented and sharing a meal. After dinner Elise put her assembly line into motion. She pulled out a vast amount of 'pieces' that would eventually be the invitations.
The younger of her son's is making his Bar Mitzvah this Fall. I'm always amazed at the work involved to prepare for this special event.

Rob punches holes.....
Leah folds....they are working for their food! haha!

E lise assembles and attaches it all together. Yes...she lost her hammer but a rock did the job!
And viola! The finished product!!

Oh...and I snapped photos :)

The Bar Mitzvah will be wonderful and a lot of fun. We are all looking forward to it!

2008-08-28T06:35:00.012-04:00

Its that time of year again! Oh the excitement over fresh paper, pencils that still have an intact eraser and the sound of my children groaning in the early hours of the mornings as we all get ready to head off to school! I'm teaching Kindergarten this year. I worked a solid week before this one arranging and rearranging furniture in my classroom to create an open and welcoming room. The children excitedly came to school this past Tuesday with school supplies and happy faces. I was thrilled that our morning went off without any issues. One fun thing we did during our first day was to take a tour around the building on the pretense that we were looking for paw print clues to our promised prize. At the end they each received a bag of 'magic predictor play dough' that changed color when kneaded. The premise was that if it changed color, then a great year in kindergarten was the prediction. Of course everyone's changed and the excitement and smiles were priceless!

While at school, Chloe and pups have been on their own. The puppies are now enjoying a puree of puppy food along with nursing much to Chloe's chagrin. Yes, she believes all food is hers. I have to lock the poor thing out of the house or she paces and paws at the puppy enclosure trying to get in to eat the food. Once I let her in to clean up (the floor, the dish, the puppies) she literally steps on her pups to get to any left over food! Some mother!!

The puppies are also at fun stage...still no teeth but they love to romp on each other, my hand or foot and 'bite' what ever they can. They also practice growling and barking at one another.

They have begun to also figure out how to get out of the enclosure and get to their mother who wants to spend more time away from them!

I've introduced them to toys and they love them! It gives them something else to chew on besides my fingers and toes!!

The bathroom is moving along nicely for those who want to see more photos. We now have a tiled floor and painted walls! Unfortunately you can't really see the pretty blue on the wall in these photos but you can get the idea. The plumber will be in next week with the fixtures. I'm getting my tubbie accessories ready!

update

2008-08-20T23:27:00.008-04:00

The puppies have begun to walk!

Here are a few outdoor photos as well.... Phin enjoying the grass. The pups didn't quite know what to make of the new turf tickling their bellies...lots of whining at first but then they seemed to enjoy the fun of exploring and playing.

Jake enjoying the new experience.

Oreo and Jake playing.

All tuckered out after a fun adventure.

And.... the bathroom is coming along. Wainscoat is being applied today...and the closet door is in :) This is moving along quickly!

Today

2008-08-11T12:57:00.011-04:00

....its raining. I managed to make it down to the tennis courts and get into a lesson with my friend Amy. we had fun and a great workout to boot. Just as our lesson ended, the skies opened up and the rain began. so much for me getting P out to mow the lawn! Since it is a rainy day, I have no excuse but to get my final project for my "Study Skills in Content Literacy" class complete...it is due tomorrow. I have downloaded a few research articles and am prepared with my tea and my high lighter and will tackle that in a moment.

Of course I have had to stop and visit with the puppies and take a few photos.....

Their eyes have begun opening the past two days. While they still can't see, we love to see them trying to focus.

Oreo and Jake with their milky blue eyes...for now :)

And of course I had to check in on the electritian and carpenter work as well! Rob was here until almost 9pm Saturday night getting things ready for the electrician. He put down the plywood flooring and wall and ceiling joists.
Sunday morning lights up what was done Sat. night.

Today the electrician came through and the vent fan is in as are the plugs and light switches. Bill came through and framed the linen closet in.

well...time to get that paper finished...and...oh...wait...have to get over to comcast pay a bill and replace the clicker......ahhhh procrastination!

Life

2008-08-08T13:27:00.006-04:00

Life is happening around here...some things to report......

The puppies are getting bigger! Today Jake (on the right) began to open his eyes a teeny bit.

Oreo (female on left) is huge, much bigger than Jake!

Here is Phin. His nose is turning black and he is the biggest pup. When it is feeding time, he nurses and then will finish and push one of his siblings off and steal their spot! what a piggie!!

The bathroom is being fully renovated. After pulling up tiles and some flooring (3 floors to be exact...staked one on top of another!)

They found that the floors were water damaged right down to the joists. So, they ripped them completely out and replaced those.

The plumber has been in yesterday and today getting the pipes set for the new placement of sink and tub. We went over design and square footage and picked out a soaking tub with hand held personal shower, picked out a pedestal sink and a simple toilet.

The 'drunk window' is now gone ....thus named due to the slanted angle it was hanging at...I swear someone was drunk when they framed that in!

The floors were also slanting to the left...they are now level...now that is a novel idea for this house!

Built in or before 1830, there are no plumb lines, no square corners to be found!

Ahhhhheeeyyyyyy

2008-08-05T21:33:00.011-04:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure and privledge of being invited to "Pops by the Sea" by my wonderful sister and brother in law. My brother in law 'buys' a VIP table and enjoys a night before auction and then the actual concert by the Boston Pops the following day.
Saturday I spent the day getting the kids set with groceries and getting myself packed for an overnight. I loaded myself in the car and headed into my usually 45 min drive to the cape. Then I hit this... Yes...traffic. I hardly ever head to the cape on a Saturday and this is why. So there I sat in traffic bored...listening to music and then talking to my mother on the phone...when it hit me! OMG! I forgot my tickets!!! So yes, I was at this point at the bridge and had to get off, turn around and head back home to get my tickets and then back again to the cape. I sat again in traffic and arrived at the auction with 1 hour left of the festivities. To my delight, the auction had just begun.

Henry Winkler aka the Fonz from "Happy Days" (only one of my favorite tv shows I watched as a kid!) was the guest conductor and he was having fun running parts of the auction. He helped raise big bucks (a painting went for $17,000 and 3 sets of Mr. Winkler's books went for $5,500 each). The auction was entertaining and after there was mingling, food and conversation. Yep, that is me conversing with "The Fonz!" :) He was very personable and warm. He had been at a local elementary school the evening before talking about his own learning disabilities. We spoke briefly about this and about his books he's written.

After the event ended, I went out for the evening and enjoyed the night life on Main Street in Hyannis. As a teen, we used to hang out and drive up and down the street checking out the boys!
What a Different place Main Street in Hyannis has become! Not to many years ago it seemed all but abandoned. It has now become populated with bars and is open until past 1am! We met up with my neice, met her friends. My sister and I accompianied my neice to one of her favorite haunts and then after dancing with a young crowd, decided to go to a jazz bar that was filled with people more our age. The funniest thing was bumping into the husband of a good friend of mine.

Sunday afternoon we dressed and headed off to the green and to settle ourselves as our table. We listened to some great pre-show music, went for lunch with my brother in law and then enjoyed a day at the Pops!

Keith Lockhart beginning the performance with a pops rendition of The Star Spangled Banner.

Henry Winkler, guest conductor

We were treated to a comical conducting by Henry Winkler and then renditions of Broadway songs by Leonard Bernstein. The day was beautiful all around and I'm forever grateful to my Sister and Brother in law for the invite and chance to enjoy such a lovely day!

visitors

2008-07-29T21:49:00.012-04:00

Today the puppies were visited by their future owners. They arrived with excitement and camera in hand to document their puppy's early days.
The family that is taking one puppy, chose the little honey colored boy and have named him Phinneas aka Phin for short.

I was told he was named after a favorite Disney TV show character. This guy looks a bit on the hyper side...lets hope that Phin doesn't emulate his namesake!

Everyone was very excited to see the puppies and the children thought they'd be bringing the puppy home today ....after some initial explanation, we got through to them that Phin will have to live here with her Mama Chloe until the 15Th of Sept.

Later in the evening, the 2ND family arrived to view the puppies and check out the black and white boy and girl that they will be bringing home. The children were also and came armed with the knowledge that they would have to wait a few weeks.

They loved visiting with Chloe who was very sweet and calm as people stared at the puppies and gently touched them. The baby kept pointing and saying "gog" too cute! They also came with camera and will be coming back to visit weekly to see the puppies grow. They don't have names quiet yet for their puppies but will be thinking hard on some wonderful ones!

Earlier in the day I had a chance to weigh the pups and am happy that they are gaining weight.
I lay them down and Phin is definitely the larger puppy. The other boy seems to be the smallest (on left) with the girl almost as big as Phin.

They fit perfectly in my little food scale (well this week anyway!

I ain't birthing no babies!

2008-07-28T21:45:00.010-04:00

Chloe, our shih tzu, was due today. She was mated with a toy poodle named Carson and has had an uneventful pregnancy. This is her first litter and my first experience with a pregnant dog! Saturday night we had company come for a cookout. Chloe was needy, wanting to be held and coddled. Nothing new really and I didn't think much of her panting and odd behavior of being right under my feet all day...just chalked it up to her pregnancy. I set up a 'maternity ward' for the big day. I think I covered the area pretty well and had all the supplies needed if she required my help. Around 10 PM, I brought Chloe to the 'birthing room' and sat with her while she panted, cried and demanded to be let out. I was determined to have her deliver the puppies in this covered and confined area.
Chloe had other plans and they involved my plaid chair in the TV room. I finally had to allow her out of the pen area as she was crying and carrying on and I felt like I was stressing her out. I thankfully covered the chair in a drop cloth and she made a beeline for it and took a long nap.

Later she did get banished back to the 'maternity ward' and she carried on with fussing over night. Finally after 2 hours of sleep, I let her out of the pen around 7:45 AM and again she bee lined it to the chair. I went to set up the supplies that may be needed (gauze, cotton balls, towels, boil some hot water....) and as I entered the kitchen I heard her yelp. I rushed back in only to find her lapping at a new little puppy!

After 15 minutes of mother son bonding and me in absolute awe, I moved them both into the maternity ward much to Chloe's displeasure.....
After an hour went by, she began contracting again and the next thing I know, here comes puppy #2. He was a little bigger than the first puppy and honey colored. So very cute! She again knew just what to do and I sat there thinking of the money I spent on birthing supplies that just went down the drain! I watched as she cleaned up her second son and I laughed to myself about the similarities of my own children at birth. P was born with jet black hair (that later fell out and came in blond) and S was my red head and a bigger baby than P. I just knew she'd have her girl next and I wasn't disappointed when she delivered a black little girl...hmm M was born with jet black hair like P. Chloe tended each of her puppies with such care....well except for the chewing of the umbilical cord when she picked them up by the cord and swung them around as she chewed! That was a sight to see. She then snuggled and nuzzled them, cleaning every inch of them until they were dry and nursing.

They are all doing well, have gained an ounce each already (weighing in at 6 oz for both black pups and 7 oz for the honey colored pup). Chloe is never from from them and when they cry, she races back to her box and lays down with them. Its an amazing thing to behold seeing this maternal love for her offspring.

An unexpected delight

2008-07-18T07:56:00.014-04:00

I woke in the morning at my usual 7am time and went about my morning routine. I showered, I dressed, I ate my breakfast, checked my email and then I waited and waited for the lump under these covers to emerge.

I waited until almost noon! I don't recall starting the "teen sleep til noon" phase until I was much older....she has it down to a science!

Meri popped her head out the slider as I sat reading out in the sun. I had her go eat breakfast and get dressed and let me know what she'd like to do. Her reply.... "I don't know" and then she sat on the couch and flipped on the TV! I gave her choices... go to the beach (and listed a few of our past favorites) "I hate the Beach" ... okay go to a pond or lake and I listed a few.... "I'm sunburned and don't want to go swimming" ..... How about we go on a hike? "Its too hot" OKAY How about we go home? To which she replied she didn't care and that this was no fun without Patrick and Sam. She misses them. I do too. So what did we do? How did I entertain this almost 13 yr old? I took her to Main St in Falmouth and we walked around and window shopped! Her mood lightened considerably and we had fun together. We bought two ocean themed prints off this woman.

Had ice cream. And took in a farmer's market for organic produce.

We then traveled to Hyannis and went to the Christmas Tree shop to buy frames for the prints. While there, I decided to take Meri to a restaurant I used to frequent when I was living and working on the cape. I called my mother and asked if they'd like to join us....but no, they don't like that restaurant much so we met them at their favorite place. After a nice dinner, conversation with some townies I'd not seen since before I was married, my dad suggested a sunset cruise on the boat. Meri delighted in this idea and we headed down to the harbor. The bay was like glass and the greenhead flies were out in full force so we lotioned up with "Skin So Soft" which they don't seem to like for whatever reason.

With the engines started, my dad the captain said we were good to go and so we headed off to deeper waters...well 15 foot waters since it was extreme low tide at the time!

Meri sat up front with Grandma and enjoyed a conversation. I was invited up to hang out with them.

enjoy the sunset over Barnstable Harbor.

2008-07-18T07:43:00.003-04:00

This is interesting! I found this while surfing some blogs and took the little quiz.

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything.
You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey.
You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.

I had a good laugh at this because of my own blog address...who else is this blog supposed to be about! :)

href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca">What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

We are off.....

2008-07-15T23:54:00.023-04:00

What are we doing today? Oh that old summer verbiage! I've come to a conclusion...vacation can be really boring when you are the only adult in the mix.

The kids have been having a good time. I've taken them to the beach, to dinner, ice cream, and we did make it over to Adventure Isle where they road go carts and we played mini golf. I paid for the tickets, took a few photos and then sat in the car and read.

Today we hung out at the house, kayaked on the lake (I saw a muskrat up pretty close!) and even took a nap.

This past spring, my sister blogged about going to see "The Wizard of Oz" put on by our High School Alma Mater Drama Club. They'd truly enjoyed the performance. I was thrilled to see that since it was a big success they were running the show this weekend! I reserved tickets and off we went to see the wizard this evening. We were not disappointed! We arrived 40 minutes early and were shocked to see a huge line snaking around the building. We got in the 'reserved tickets' line and waited our turn to finally get in and find some seats. The theatre was packed with people and you could feel the excitement oozing off the little kids in the audience.

Way back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, as my kids like to say.... I went to this high school and participated in this drama club run by John Sullivan. "Sully" as we called him, was an amazingly talented man. I was lucky enough to be cast in "Music Man" and a musical rendition of "The Hobbit" (someday I'll post some photos of me in this). I also participated yearly in the annual "Haunted House" my favorite 'job' being that of a guide. We worked hard, learned our parts, were at practice daily and it all paid off. We were often in awe of the props and back drops that were created by the art dept. Tonight I was transported back into that feeling of awe at just what Sully had once again created.

Yes, those are real chickens in the hen house and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are counting real chicks....oh and yes, Toto was played by a real dog for the "Kansas" scenes.

Glinda the good witch came floating down on this ring while a bubble machine spewed forth bubbles over the audience...pretty cool. I loved the scenery for munchkin land. The major munchkins were played by high schoolers and one by Sully himself. The young girl who played the Wicked Witch of the West (sorry but after reading "Wicked" I can only think of her as Elphaba) had the voice down very well. She was pretty convincing!

I was truly impressed with the talents of the main cast. The young man who played Scarecrow was incredible. He had all the moves! All of them had wonderful singing voices and the young man who played Lion got a lot of laughs from the audience.

How can there possibly be a BHS performance without an out of the ordinary occurrence on stage?? Yes, that is a real horse and YES the horse is green! That is Mr. Sullivan himself driving the carriage. All I could say was "Wow" when the curtain went up for the Emerald City scenes.

"you've killed her....." Ding Dong the witch is dead...I'm melting, melting! such a great 'melting'! She slips behind the wall and shrinks as she disrobes.

And all ends happily with Dorothy's proclamation 'Oh Auntie Em, there's no place like home."

The kids loved the show, and were happy we went. On the way home Sam piped up..."Hey Mom, what are we doing tomorrow?".... thank goodness its Wed. and we have to head home for the day to send Sam off with his Grandma and Meri has a dr. appt!

Vacation or something resembling it..

2008-07-13T22:21:00.019-04:00

This week I am on vacation. You can call it a vacation as we are not home but on Cape Cod. We will go to fun destinations...but.... when we arrived, I mopped the floors, cleaned toilets, wiped counters, grocery shopped, vacuumed and cooked dinner! Do we mothers ever really go on a vacation?? I do count myself lucky to have a friend who loans me her summer house free of charge that sits right on a lake and is close to my family.

Today we got to spend the afternoon with my mom, my sister, my sister in law and 2 of her children. Of the 4 kids, 3 enjoyed the beach, went swimming, ate lunch and sunbathed (or should I say sunburned!) while one of hers, who hates the beach, complained most of the time we sat there. The day was warm with a constant breeze (which created small sand storms that were annoying so I don't blame J for wanting to go home!).

After a day on the beach, we went home and awaited the arrival of M's best friend who will spend a few days with us. I grilled some chicken and after dinner and clean up, we hit the road and went to the Sandwich boardwalk. What a beautiful night! I enjoyed walking along combing the shore as the kids walked and talked. Sam and I enjoyed playing with our cameras and taking photos of various plants, rocks, people and birds. It was a relaxing way to spend the end of the day.

The Sandwich boardwalk

Meri and her best friend Grace
Sam taking a photo of some local fauna.

I love playing with my camera and getting interesting shots.

Bird houses on the marsh.

On the way out back to the car, we noticed a large group of people had arrived at the beginning of the boardwalk. I noticed them partaking in a favorite activity I recall with fondness from my earlier life on living on Cape Cod. The tide had come in creating a wonderful deep area to jump into from the bridge. Kids and adults jumped into the cold water's of the marsh while many stopped to watch. As a young teen, my friends and I loved this summer activity and often jumped off the side of a small overpass in Barnstable harbor. The major difference from this place was ours had a rip current that would drag you out into the marsh where known eels lived. You didn't want to tangle with one of those! And it had rocks covered in barnacles that you had to climb out onto...no 'water shoes' back then...just cut up legs and feet! So we had a rope that dangled under the overpass to grab hold of. At one point one man retrieved a member of his group and carried her over his shoulder to the bridge.

You could hear the members of his family talking "Oh he's just teasing, he won't throw her in" and others, "I hope he throws her in!".

All eyes were on this man and his daughter/niece/close friend?? as he walked to the middle of the bridge, then jumped with her in his arms into the water! The look on her face was priceless.

We all agreed that this was a great adventure out.

I then stopped at a local bakery/ice creamery to the delight of my charges. Yes, I got a slice of pie enjoyed every bite! Tomorrow its supposed to rain.... I have a few thoughts as to where we will go...one idea may involve go carts!

Going candling!

2008-07-11T17:34:00.007-04:00

Last night a group of us got together over dinner to celebrate my friend C's 46Th birthday. During dinner, conversation turned to the occupation of one of the gang. She has opened her own office and is a Reiki master and also does Ear Coning (or candling) amongst other arts of energetic healing therapies. Friend C had gone last month to W and raved about her session. She came out feeling wonderful and relaxed. I decided that since today was a 'free' day for me, I'd get in to see W myself and see what candling was all about.

So, off I went a candling! W explained just what happens during the process. You comfortably lie down on the table. Soft music is on, a light blanket is placed over you if you need one. The room itself was conducive to eliciting relaxation. W placed a long conical candle into a flame and the top of the cone is lit. Smoke emits from the tapered bottom of the candle. The tapered end is then placed lightly into your ear canal. As the candle slowly burns, the ear canal fills with smoke and warms the canal causing the ear wax to melt and then be drawn up into the cone of the candle similar to a straw. Not only does it get out ear wax (there was a normal amount extracted from my ears) but also yeast that sits in the ear. (this I had a lot of). The session was very relaxing and calming. I drifted in and out of 'cat naps'. It lasted about an hour for the ear candling and then W did some reiki. I was so relaxed and then felt in such a light mood. Great for going grocery shopping! W did say I had relatively 'clean ears' since I didn't succumb to allergies. I won't need to have coning done but twice a year.

I came home and googled ear candling and came up with some history (ear candling goes back to Egyptian times) as well as the 'benefits' and risks (wich mostly revlove around burns....well yea!)While the benefits are not medically documented, people claim to have been cured from chronic ear infections, headaches, migraines. They say they help in body work in energy healing. I'm not certain about these claims as I had no complaints prior to having this done. But... I enjoyed the experience and would reccommend it.

Scootin' along

2008-07-03T17:08:00.004-04:00

Gas price getting to you?

Me too!

The other day I read with interest about the growing popularity of scooters.... otherwise known as mopeds. As most know, gas is very expensive in European countries and scooters are everywhere there. I think we'll see more of these on the roads as the price of gas continues to go higher.

I found out that here, they actually have 'scooter clubs' where people get together and ride to fun destinations and back.. kind of like motorcycle enthusiasts.. go figure!

After much debate and thought, I finally went and purchased the above. The deciding factor? My son beginning his first real job on Monday and the boy still doesn't have his official licence! He and I agreed that he'd drive this to work and save some money on gas as they get very good mileage. I'll begin riding it to work on nice days (I'm sorry but I'm not riding this in the rain!)

We've practiced riding on the roads....the only problems I've seen are speedsters riding up on your tail in their big honkin SUVs! So, we tend to ride the shoulder of the road and allow those who feel the need to go above the speed limit (30-35 mph) to pass right on by.

Today I took Meri out for a spin. We drove to the center of town and enjoyed the ride. She noticed the amount of 'stares' we generated...now was it looks of

"Hey, wish I had one of those puppies to ride around on!"
Or

"Whoa, look at the hot chicks on that bike!"

I'll leave that up to you.

No I didn't!

2008-07-02T07:38:00.005-04:00

Can you say itchy? I sure can. That is the culprit growing from the ground in my flower bed...... Let me start at the beginning...

I took a long look at the side of my house and decided it was time to get busy and weed. I began at the front of the house and worked my way steadily toward the back. I started off using my weeding tool... kind of like a hoe but with the middle missing...great for getting the weeds whacked off at the base. I'd hoe, then scoop up the weeds and toss them onto the driveway. Later, the kids would come with the wheelbarrow and dispose of the weeds onto the compost pile. After I made it up to the back porch, I took a little break and then the fun resumed. I found myself enjoying this chore. Pulling weeds, shaking the dirt off the roots...I'd abandoned my weeding tool. I then made it to an area I'd neglected for some time. This is where I had decided that weeding isn't as much fun as I made it out to be! What did I find? Poison Ivy...yep you read that right! Now for anyone that does not know me, I am one of those people that only needs be in the vicinity of this plant and three days later I'm covered. I actually grabbed hold of what I thought was an ordinary vine and it wasn't until I actually looked at what was in my hand that I knew what a mistake this weeding was! I did wash my hands with rubbing alcohol in cold water and thought I was safe... Fast forward 3 days later and I wake in the middle of the night scratching the heck out of my forearm. Today... I'm covered. I have it across my palm where I held it, on both arms, legs, stomach and face...yep I'm itchy! In my quest for any new information out there about clearing this up fast (nothing out there I don't already know) I came across this website http://www.poison-ivy.org/ check out his 'hall of fame rashes' ... I don't feel so bad after seeing some of those!

I must be tripping

2008-07-02T07:15:00.012-04:00

Many thought I was nuts with the cost of fuel these days ($3.95 a gallon here yesterday and I'm sure in a few months that will look cheap!) but I drove to both Maine and Vermont in a weeks time. My trip to Maine was an overnight on the campus of the University of New England. Here I spent two days learning the ins and outs of a math program I'll be using called "Everyday Math". The presenter made it fun and interesting seeing that we were stuck inside on two glorious days when I'm sure she too felt the desire to go out exploring or beach combing! Yes, this campus sits right on the water on the coast of Maine. The neat thing is that this is the university from which I am taking my online masters program. I'll graduate from here in May 2009. These are just some photos I took that day.
As I drove onto campus I found this, the student parking lot.

Got out and shot this picture of people fishing. Behind them is the school's dock with a little gazebo, great for sitting and studying on warm days. I can only imagine how chilly it is up here on the water in winter!

A view of the waterfront looking from campus into the town of Biddeford, ME.

Adirondack chairs are in great little gardens everywhere.

This sculpture is in front of one of the main buildings you pass as you drive on campus. This sculpture really caught my attention. I looked at it and immediately came to mind all the 'stones' we all can carry around inside us. It is just a fascinating piece to sit and look at. I left the campus and took the senic route (read that as avoiding the toll roads...thank you Tom Tom GPS). It was nice to arrive home to an intact home and children!

My next trip... Colchester Vermont to visit Saint Michael's with my oldest. Yes, we dragged the younger two along with us. Four hours and 20 mins up to this campus and I'd realized I forgot my camera! Like my own university, St. Mike's is small and quaint. We had our tour with our enthusiastic tour guide, Katelyn, who showed us each and every building and an example of a dorm room. After two hours on campus, we drove into Burlington, got a bite to eat and then hit the road for home...of course with one pit stop to the Ben and Jerry's factory! 4 hours and 20 mins later...we were home and thoroughly exhausted! I sure hope the next college he wants to view is close to home!

18 years

2008-06-28T23:52:00.005-04:00

Monday, June 23rd would have been our 18Th wedding anniversary. As I thought on our life together, I remembered the first time Tom brought me my favorite roses. I absolutely love pink and yellow roses. I had been dating Tom for a few months and one day in quiet conversation I told him of my love for these particular flowers. No one else in my circle of friends or family knew this. I was living in my dorm at UMASS Amherst and Tom living in an apartment off campus. It was my birthday and Tom was home studying. He called me 'supposedly' from his apartment to tell me he couldn't come over. I was a bit sad to be 'home' alone but had some studying to do as well. I grabbed my tea pot and decided to go out to the bubbler around the corner from my room. I left my room door open because I was around the corner and was gone all of a minute. When I came back, there sitting in the middle of my room was a vase filled with these beautiful yellow and pink roses and yet no note. No one was in the hallway, no one was in the stairwell, it was quiet. I'm not sure how much studying I got done that night as I'm sure I stared at those roses all night. The next day I thanked Tom for the roses which he denied came from him. Tom never admitted leaving those and insisted they were from my secret admirer...My own gut instinct says they were from Tom and I held that belief.... I guess I'll never really know.

SO, I'd spent the past few weeks dwelling on my upcoming anniversary, remembering our beautiful wedding, our vows and promises to love one another. I think I did a good job keeping my promises to him. I loved him for better or for worse...through arguments over money, small trials of married life and raising children.
I loved him for richer or for poorer.... we stretched our pennies and worked hard trying to make a house that was falling down around our ears a 'home'.
I loved him in sickness and in health.... well...he kept up this part more so with all the sickness that I seemed to attract. Coming home from our honeymoon to Mexico harboring a 'guest' the doctors termed 'typhoid' and Tom said, "I promised to love you in sickness and in health, but did we have to test it so soon?" and then again a year later and almost losing my life during the birth of P. Tom just gave me 'the look' and jokingly told me to stop testing him!
But the one I don't think I've kept well is "until death do us part" I can't just stop loving him because he died.... I continue to love him even though death darkened our doorway. And while looking back on photos can bring tears of sadness, they also bring tears of joy in remembering what a beautiful man I married and was lucky enough to have love me.

I do have a little confession to make though. I fretted and worried up until last week and then the day came and went without notice. It wasn't until last night during an anxiety filled dream where I was late for my wedding and running down the streets of my home on Cape Cod to the church, that I remembered. Could it be that I forgot trying to 'protect' myself from my own emotions... or have I come to a place of more healing where I can put it aside and hold it later? I remain curious about this.

Summer

2008-06-22T01:34:00.003-04:00

Some beautiful flowers in my side flower bed.

It is officially summer and school has been out since June 13th. I've spent the past 12 days decluttering the house, setting up tutoring schedules, making various health appointments for the kids so they can go back to school in the fall and have just begun to finally relax a bit!

This summer I hope to get the kids up to Canobie Lake Park in NH or over to Western MA to Six Flags. We also hope to get to the cape a bit more than last year and have an offer for a week at a friend's summer home. I also have a list of books to read!

Speaking of which... I just read "The Shack"

Check it out at http://www.theshackbook.com

flowers in my shed window box.

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T20:53:00.011-04:00

My very first Mother's Day 1992

Today is mother's day and according to Wikepedia, Mother's Day is...
The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions."

Now, I don't know about uniting against war outside the occasional bickering I've had to disrupt. And I am all for peace and quiet and against any 'weapons' they may use on one another...like the bopper sword Pat made at a day long program at MIT.
As for sanitation ... I find myself today sanitizing the counter where someone made waffles last night and then someone else made brownies. I've put to work the masses this morning in unstacking the dishes so I could sanitize the sink and then rallied the troops in getting out the lawnmower so the jungle (lawn) can be tamed and trimmed!

Mother's Day is today though, and its a day that I have found myself with baby books and tissues, looking back on those early years when I held those swaddled little ones in my arms. Those precious little bundles who gave me the opportunity to be called in sweet little voices "Mama, Mommy,and Mom"

Mom and Sam 1993

Mom and Pat 1991

Mom and Meri 1995

Today we spent the day together as a family. We went in to town to see the closing of "West Side Story" and then had a fun dinner at Fire and Ice with my parents, my sisters, my father in law and my nieces.

While I miss those early years that seem so much more simple now than they did then, I truly enjoy the camaraderie I share with them and listening to their ideas and thoughts.

Way off Broadway and dinner to boot!

2008-05-04T20:10:00.019-04:00

Last night, I took my mother in law, Sam and Meri off to Patrick's school to see this wonderful play. We had a great evening out. We drove into Boston and made our first stop at Fire and Ice.

This was our first visit and being the 'spur of the moment person' I am, I did not make reservations.

We walked in all excited to be there and were told we had a 45 minute wait by the young man at the counter. I politely asked, "are you serious!?" To which he suggested we sit and order appetizers and drinks at the bar. I tried to play my 'mother in law' card... "Is there any way you can get us a table quicker? My mother in law has hip issues and can't stand around that long." This was countered with a response by the second young man at the counter who said, "Sorry, the wait is an hour and 15 minutes and the bar has tables." Being confused at this response and uppage of time frame, I pointed at the first young man and whined.." But he said 45 minutes!" We were then handed the light up space disk and ushered toward the bar. As I began walking away with a resigned 'okay then', we were quickly asked back as the table opened up for us!! Whoo hoo!! Upon arriving upstairs we were in awe at the sights and sounds of the place! Wow!! a GIANT grill.... where can I get one of those!? The smell was incredible with all those dishes cooking at once.

Waiters were joking with the customers and singing. What a fun place!!

We were seated at our table and our waiter then took us on a tour of the establishment. The choices were endless! My mother in law was amazed with the size of the shrimp. After our tour, we were let loose. We grabbed bowls and headed off in different directions picking and choosing what we wanted to be grilled up. I chose lots of veggies, chicken, sirloin and sweet potato with a mustard sauce....YUM!

Our selections were tossed onto the grill and set to sizzling. It was fun to watch the chefs circling the grill and cooking.

I loved watching the faces of the people as they watched the cooks!

After this wonderful dinner is was time to head over to Patrick's school for the play. After some issues with traffic (what traffic in Boston ha!...well for starters we ended up in a turn left only lane...but the cars PARKED in front of us didn't know this so we missed two cycles of the light until the doorman and valet parking man for the hotel there realized why so many of us were beeping and yelling at them!) and some exit issues... did you know that going south on the expressway, they skip from exit 15 to exit 12! There is no exit onto Morrisey Blvd!! We finally arrived and made it with minutes to spare.

The play was a wonderful success. Patrick played the part of detective Shrank. He didn't sing or dance in the play. He had large monologues reprimanding the Jets and Sharks and questioning Maria. He played a great cranky, mean and racist detective!

Patrick's girlfriend Shannon played a Jet girl and danced and sang with the group.

The young lady who played the part of Maria had an incredible singing voice and did a duet with her twin sister who played the part of Bernado's girlfriend. (Bernardo is Maria's brother). The cast was talented vocally and in movement. They worked hard to put on this production well and it showed! Here is a photo of the cast singing the song before the intermission...

And a photo of 'Tony and Maria" singing "There's a place for Us" Well done ladies and gentlemen, well done!

Walking for a cause

2008-04-28T19:33:00.005-04:00

"The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose."
Charles Dickens

Sunday was the annual Start! Walk for the American Heart Association. This year we raised a little over $1,600.00. The day was cold and gray again, similar to last year....brrr. This was our second year walking. There were not as many people in attendance this year. Along with my friend and co-captain of our team, I walked with my sister and her pup Marli. Marli is a chocolate Labradoodle...thus her mohawk looking hair doo! Marley enjoyed walking and greeting the people along the route.

I think I've mentioned that we walk in memory of my husband who died due to a stroke he suffered during an operation for a new heart valve. My friend Carol walks in memory of her late husband, Brian, who died of a massive heart attack and also for her 12 year old son who inherited his father's high cholesterol. Our husbands died 2 weeks apart back in 2002. Last year in light of the impending 5th year anniversary, I mentioned to Carol that I wanted to do something in a positive light and mentioned raising money and walking in the Heart Walk. She loved the idea and thought they needed a positive event too. Thus our team "Walkers With Heart" was born. It was a step in a positive direction not only for myself and for Carol but also for our children.

Carol's sons and my kids took off and ran most of the route. I had a wonderful brisk walk, and conversation with my sister. It is always nice to be able to catch up with one another in our busy lives. We walked the route in less than an hour and then we made our way to the ladies room and I spied something you don't normally see while in the ladies room....!!! So I just had to take a photo!

A picnic lunch and then a visit to my sister's house for the afternoon made the day complete.

A walk through town

2008-04-27T17:12:00.015-04:00

I thought it would be fun to take a walk and photograph along the way during the spring. I did similar in the Fall.

My neighbor's sheep out grazing on a beautiful sunny day.

Over the river...

Our town is in bloom...
Living in New England, we have many old cemetaries. This grave stone is dated 1720 and the roots of this old tree are growing around it...

Beautiful tulips abound where ever you look..

The old academy building's beautiful fountain....

My favorite house in this town....

Seems that no matter where you went, people were out enjoying the day....Home to my own tulips...

And then....

2008-04-24T07:42:00.002-04:00

And then there were 4!

From left to right..... Duck, Brit, Noisey Nora and Pip

Somethings Hatching...

2008-04-23T20:39:00.018-04:00

For a school science project, I set 11 eggs that came from a friend's chicken coop. The class and I are doing a unit on "everything grows" and we began with a discussion on eggs and chickens and then set up an incubator. The excitement in the room grew as we moved the little chicken on the calendar closer and closer toward the 21st day (hatching day)....and being so brilliant, I set the eggs so they would hatch during school vacation week! Well at least if nothing hatched I could have run out and picked up 6 chicks from the local farm supply store and said they had come from the eggs!!

Being the good teacher, I gave out my home # for parents to call on the afternoon of the 21st day...today. Yesterday morning I woke to a surprise. One chick decided to come a day early. We have named her Noisey Nora (yes, after the book by Rosemary Wells) since all she does is cheep all day long!

The day began quiet with the exception of Nora! and then my phone was ringing off the hook. I told one family that I'd be home after 1:30 as I needed to take the kids to Kohl's for shorts. I arrived home to find 3 students with moms and siblings in my driveway. They happily came into the room and we were surprised with another newly hatched chick! This one Meri has called Brit.

Two more students arrived to view the hatch lings and marvel that "Ms. Lisa" actually doesn't live at school!

After dinner, one student arrived just in time to witness the birth of the third chick.

You can see the cracked egg (middle front) as the chick was doing its best to hatch.

Libby seemed just as interested in what was going on as my student. She watched the entire time! The chick then pushed and pushed to get the unzipped portion of the egg shell off. After 20 minutes of watching, out came the new baby chick!

My student's little sister thought we should name it "Duck" and Meri liked the name so Duck it is! Although, I thought it looked more like a penguin! Duck spent some time drying off in the incubator before being introduced to the others in the brooder. Then a little attention with the camera and a measurement, and Duck was good to go!

I can't think of a better way to spend the day!

Vacation!

2008-04-21T21:31:00.004-04:00

OK....vacation! I noticed my younger sister had posted the week's weather on her blog so I had to do the same! LOL ...copying isn't a mean thing, it is a form of flattery!

So...this week, I have one child off with his scout troop in PA until tomorrow night and one child taking his driver's education classes from 9-3 (oooo lucky him!). Miss M is at an over night at her best friend's house (best friend raises goats and Lily the goat has a tiny tiny baby yesterday..all of 4 lbs!). So Miss M is extremely happy to be over there instead of cleaning up with me over here!
I'm planning on walking each day as we get ready for the American Heart Association Heart Walk. We have raised $1,190.00 to date. If you know anyone who'd like to donate they can go to http://www.heartwalk.kintera.org/ click on Cape Cod MA and then if you look to the left under Team Rank...we are Walkers With Heart :) The big walk takes place on Sunday....and it looks like rain!

Lisa

2008-04-14T14:34:00.005-04:00

This past weekend, I got to spend half of a Saturday hanging around with my 16.5 yr old. We attended 'Junior Day' at Emerson College in Boston.

My son wants to pursue a BFA in Technical theater and Stage design. I am enjoying the man my once little boy is growing into. While he has those moments were I want to strangle him.... he mostly is a young man of integrity, honesty, and compassion who posseses a quick wit and a great sense of humor.

We started our morning dashing to the car in the pouring rain as thunder pealed and lightening lit up the dark morning skies. We drove as far as the T station in Quincy and jumped onto the red line. I had a nice conversation with my son on the ride in. We stopped at JFK station and a homeless man boarded our car. He immediately went into his begging mode asking for spare change so he could eat today.

As I listened to this man and tried not to make eye contact (as I learned years ago was an invitation to be badgered for money), I couldn't help but think of the movie "Conversations With God" and how Neale Walsch felt so very invisible when he was homeless. My heart began aching for the blight of this man and then I could hear in my head the verse to a song from church...

"What so ever you do for the least of my people, that you do unto me."

I began to rummage through my backpack looking for the apple I'd thrown in the bottom. Patrick turned and saw me digging and said "Mom no don't, I know this man, he comes on the train every day and panhandles and if you give him food he gets mad and begins yelling at train riders." I put my apple aside. The man came up to us and asked for a dollar and sat across from us. I noticed someone had given him a balance bar and although he had opened it, he only nibbled it here and there, not to hungrily might I add. When did my little boy grow up to posess such street smarts?

The rest of our morning was unevetnful. We enjoyed hearing all that Emerson had to offer at $40,000.00 a year....ka ching!! And the day turned out to be a beautifully warm and sunny day.

Patrick left me to get over to his school for play practice (after stopping at the school's book store where I bought Patrick an Emerson Tshirt) and I rode the rest of the ride home alone thinking of that roly poly tow head whose little voice I can still conjur up in my mind. Time is racing forward and I am treasuring days like these that make me stop and see who they are becoming.

2008-03-26T20:43:00.003-04:00

Happy belated Easter. Its the first full week of spring and today was not a disappointment..although I hear we will be seeing snow on Friday morning! Flowers are starting to appear through the leaves in the flower beds and everything...including my children..... seem to have sprouted overnight! I seem to have to look up to talk to my kids these days! Patrick is the tallest and this photo really shows it!

On the Fat Flush scene, I've been struggling for 3 weeks with food. I crave sugar. After the flu, I've been run down and eating things I shouldn't be. I don't have all the answers to get back that motivation that I held for 9 months. I have to find the path that leads back to that and quick! Anyone know the way?

Things could be worse

2008-03-20T07:52:00.003-04:00

The past couple of weeks have been anxiety filled ones. I've not had a decent nights sleep since coming down with the flu and sleep deprivation does not help!

Add to my job and my tutoring NAEYC reaccreditation for work it equates to lots of extra work for us!!

I've also started stressing about the upcoming beginning of the trial, what the outcome could be, along with a ton of smaller things happening in my life.

As a preschool teacher, I hear so many bits of wisdom on a daily basis. Children have such a way of putting life into perspective!

I have a student who was diagnosed with diabetes last year while he was in my 3 day class. This year I have him in my 4 day class of 4 and 5 yr olds. He came to school this year with a pump that delivers his insulin. He still has to have finger pricks to test his blood and often has to stop what he is doing for this. He gets angry and his parents have allowed him the sentence "Diabetes Sucks!"

His mom relayed a story to me yesterday not knowing I was feeling blue. Seems her little guy had again gotten upset when asked to wash his hands so she could check his blood sugar level. He stomped to the bathroom yelling "Diabetes Sucks!" She'd had a small conversation saying there were worse things in life and the finger stick would be over and he'd be back to playing soon. He came out from washing his hands and said he knew what could be worse.
Now remember, this is a 5 yr old little boy......

"I could have cancer, that would be a worst OR I could have REALLY bad diarrhea! Now that would be really worse!"

I have played this conversation over and over in my head and even with all my stresses and worries, my aloneness in the world, the upcoming trial that is sure to stir up so many sad memories...things could be worse... I could have really bad diarrhea.... little guy is right.. that is way worse!

under the weather

2008-03-10T12:02:00.004-04:00

Yep, good ole influenza has come for a visit! I contracted the dreaded flu... I've gone on line to the CDC website and can put a check next to all the symptoms. I have not been this sick in a long time. I think today I am finally seeing the other end. It started Thursday with a slight headache and chills but no fever so I brought my germy self off to a full inservice workshop and spread the joy around I'm sure! On Friday morning I felt horrible and made it til 10:30am teaching...thus spreading those germs to my students and other staff...oh boy! Got home and my fever quickly rose to 101....it has been as high as 104 and that is just miserable!

My daughter has been a great little nurse. She made me protein smoothies, brought me water and kept her distance! She wiped down the phone and the clicker when I was through with them and would line the area where I sat with blankets to create a 'safe zone'. She is too funny!

This morning I woke up and laughter erupted as I walked into the kitchen to give my children lunch money (I've not been able to get to the grocery store). You see, last night I ran a fever of 103 and took 1 ibuprofin like the bottle said...it did squat. My throat was burning, I was shaking head to toe and so I went for the Tylenol sore throat and fever liquid med. I woke sometime in the middle of the night dripping with sweat...guess that took the fever down for me! Needless to say though as cold as I was I had no energy to get myself up and change me and the sheets so I went back to sleep. This was the result....

I think I got the whoo ville resident look a like contest down pat, don't you!?!

I'm grateful to the mom of one of my tutoring students. She asked if we need anything and picked up bread and eggs for me. She also left off a container of chicken veggie soup Yum!! God sure puts good people in my path!

Later in my utter boredom I realized my domain for the past 5 days has been the couch...I've actually had control of it, the phone AND the clicker!! The kids have been pretty gracious (if not frightened of the germs I'm harboring!) So...with that thought, I devised my own currency... what do you think?

Stay well out there!
Lisa

Thought for today

2008-03-04T19:29:00.002-05:00

"If there be a faith that can move mountains, it is faith in one's own power." -

Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach

Believe

2008-03-01T11:47:00.006-05:00

Botanists say that trees need the powerful March winds to flex their trunks and main branches, so the sap is drawn up to nourish the budding leaves. Perhaps we need the gales of life in the same way, though we dislike enduring them.- Jane Truax

Sorry to have landed back on dry land and then to have dissappeared. Life has been about getting reacclimated to the cold, to the routine of caring for my children and to the life of teacher and reading tutor!

Life has also brought about a major event that will be taking place within the next few months. I retrieved the mail only to find a letter from our lawyer's office. I was leery about opening something from them. I figured any good news would come in the form of a phone call. I held the letter in my hands fearing it would say we were done and that Tom's malpractice suit was finished without even getting started. I brought the letter into the house and silently said a quick little prayer and then opened the letter. As I read it, I began shaking from head to toe and the tears took over as I realized the letter was good news. We have a trial date! 6 yrs of waiting to go to trial and it is finally here.

Now, I sit with this information and wonder about the events that have taken place this year. Maybe my winning the cruise was somehow God's way of giving me a way to regroup and re-energize for the emotional roller coaster ride that is to come starting this May. The 'gales of life' blew hard 6 yrs ago and I have survived 6 yys of those life winds trying to knock me down. Now they will blow again and bring back those memories with the trial.

I have faith that this trial will bring the best possible outcome for the children and I. How could I not with having my own personal angel in the wings?

The Cruise to Loose Feb 11-19, 2008

2008-02-23T14:09:00.084-05:00

This is the story of my Winning Cruise...

Ann Louise Gittleman, author of Fat Flush Plan (..the plan that has made a new me!) and me.

And so it begins.....

We arrived at Logan at close to 7am...our flight was scheduled to take off at 7:40. Traffic had been heavy and we were sweating it out thinking we wouldn't make it to the airport...well, we didn't sweat long! Stepping out on the curb the temps felt like -7 as I checked my baggage at the curbside baggage check. Diane had to head into the regular check in area as her bag (being as big as her dresser weighed over the 50 lb limit). Bags checked, we began to walk toward our boarding area and then.... we hit a wall of people! The line to get through security was HUGE. Luckily, the woman who checked Diane's bag motioned for us to follow her and we were delivered to the front of the line and then off we went happily to find our seats on our Jet Blue plane. Prior to leaving home, Diane had cooked up a Fat Flush breakfast pudding and packed each of us an apple. When we were settled on the plane and getting hungry, Diane grabbed her bag where our breakfast was packed only to find the food missing! We think they absconded the food when it went through security. So...we settled for cashews and water.
This is the Carnival Miracle Cruise ship...our room is behind the 3rd life boat on your right... yep we had the exclusive 'Lifeboat view'

Unfortunately, most of the photos from day 1 were lost in a camera mishap...

Once you get through the terminal lines to board, they grab you for the first of many photo opportunities. We were asked to pose a sexy sister pose LOL!

Once we got on board, we headed up for lunch on the Lido deck. I was AMAZED with the amount of food and choices!! This is the first cruise Id ever been on. We were then allowed to check into our stateroom and from there we did a 'muster' that is where you don your life vest and practice the 'Titanic routine' At check in we met staff from Unikey and the travel agents. Everyone had a big smile on their face and were very friendly. We all weighed in and were measured (after lunch and a few glasses of lemon water mind you!) We each received a totes filled with goodies (concentrated cranberry juice, flax, probiotics,the book, etc). Dinner was a time to get to know one another and I was happy to meet our table mates. After dinner, the dessert menu was offered but we decided to ask for apples cut up with cinnamon. Our waiter gave us such of look as if he’d never heard that request! I then said he could give me an apple and a sharp knife ...he liked the idea of just whole apples for everyone! Diane had a whole bottle of cinnamon so that would work too! We then headed over to our first ‘class’. Both Theresa (the other winner) and I were introduced and asked to come up and talk a little of our experience on Fat Flush. I was a bit nervous to say the least!! I don’t really like microphones and generally am not a ‘public speaker on the spot! I can teach a class of children but speaking in front of a crowd is a little nerve wracking! (but no fear, I was told I did fine ). Before dinner we had a blast with the picture places. This is one of my favorites! We just had to much fun!! LOL! Before bed, we went over the tips on eating and the agenda for the week. Early morning exercising with Linda at 7am our next time together! Yes you read that right 7.. s-e-v-e-n AM…
Breakfast with Liz

7 AM came about quick and we were led in a Yoga class...the only move that remains ingrained in my head was the "screaming squirrel" and my squirrel was screaming up a storm! I've done yoga in the past...beginners class and let me tell you, it is MUCH more difficult on a rocking ship! Off to breakfast with Liz (Fat Flush Nutritionist and friend of Ann Louise Gittleman) she was very sweet and easy to get to know. We had a second class and then hit the gym after lunch. Walking on a treadmill is difficult on a rocking ship too...you take our life in your hands!!!Before we knew it it was time to get ready for our first formal dinner. Donning fancy dresses, shoes, fixing our hair and makeup we were off! They set up photo opportunity areas and Diane and I had a blast taking "Sister pictures" we did buy quite a few! Everyone looked stunning!

Posing together...

Dixie (in blue), Laura and Linda awaiting our group photo.

Professional sitting...we both wished we had our younger sister Jeanne with us!

Karen, Theresa (also a cruise winner), myself and Diane. We really had a great time together with them. They were a lot of fun!

The whole gang!

Ann Louise and James cutting up the rug as the waiters sang "That's Amore". They were very cute together!

Back up at 7 am the next day for a little Zoomba...what a fun exercise class!! Everyone seemed to enjoy it!

Then breakfast and off to the shower and class with Ann Louise.

Here are Theresa and I with our matching REI bottles brought from home. I'd been writing down the days adventures!

And then some R and R up by the pool. It was windy and a bit cool but the battle of the sexes must go on and today's feats involved synchronized swim! LOL!

Then back off for dinner that evening. Everyone was getting excited at our first island stop in the morning. Here I am with my starter...the bowl arrived with diced cucumber. I was a bit confused and thought this was it...until Chris came by with the yogurt soup and dill that goes into the bowl too! LOL!

We got up bright and early and watched as we arrived in the port of St. Maarten. We were so excited as this is the day we went off to Anguilla!

The island of St. Maarten.

Our story on Anguilla is the post before this one so I won't go into detail. BUT I will introduce you to "The Three Ds...Dorthy, Delores and Don. Our friends we met as we shared a cab...these 3 were adorable!!! Each time we ran into them it was hugs all around!

Day two.... we skipped the exercise and headed right to breakfast and watched as we arrived in the port of St. Lucia... then off the boat to get with our group. We were headed horseback riding! This little pup loved the attention she was getting..she was so tiny!

Diane on her horse ready to go!

My horse Calm...who was anything but calm! He wanted to be lead horse and I had a time keeping him at a walk the whole ride! We arrived at the beach and like in most places you'd find tourists, there was a bar and a souvenir shop! A video of riding bareback into the water...so much fun!

A visit to a local bar...the woman sitting next to me turned into psycho chick later that evening after way to much to drink. She was not part of our Fat Flush group...She kind of latched onto Diane, wanting to be her best friend. She then went into a tirade at a man with her own group who she claimed she saw a dark side when she looked into his eyes. She was obviously a very sad and hurt woman. We spent the rest of the cruise avoiding her! With the amount of people on board, it was amazing how many times we bumped into her!!

Dinner was a blast as usual as we shared our adventures!

Here, I am showing Kathleen my before photos.

How are your apples and cinnamon? My they are so much better than that chocolate melting cake on the menu! Don't you agree?? Riiiiiiighhht!! LOL!

Kathleen, Ann and Kathy (in black) at dinner. Kathy was our biggest FF loser of the week with a total loss of 13 lbs. We were all so very proud of her!!! She is a real sweet heart too!

On to St. Kitts...and the infamous catamaran cruise....what went on on the catamaran stays (hmmmmm) on the catamaran!! LOL!

Welcome to St. Kitts.

I found this to be the prettiest of all the islands. We had such a great time on our outing!!

The infamous catamaran!!!!!!

Leave your shoes and cares on the dock...board and prepare for fun!

Lisa (me), Diane, Theresa and Karen (Theresa's mom)

A Sunny Day

Amy and Kathy

and Snorkeling fun!

BBQ, beer, and lots of dancing on board!

Back to the boat...people actually stand up on deck cheering on those racing to beat the gang plank pulling in!

Our waiter Chris was a hoot!

Back to sea after 3 fun packed days and back to 7 AM exercise. We arose to a fun morning of Zoomba and then did some yoga to stretch. At the end, Linda and Theresa were demonstarting some favorite moves. No, not screaming squirrel .. they start with rock the baby... and then I demonstrated my favorite yoga pose..... hey sometimes its really difficult to relax!

James Templeton then gave us a talk on parasites and his own story dealing with doctors and a diagnosis of stage 4 melonoma...and his death sentence. He was amazing!

Dinner time again! There is Roz...happy birthday!...and her husband next to her. Then the blonde man and the man with the big smile (Richard) were the Travel Agents we all went through... Then a photo with Ann Louise Gittleman and her husband James Templeton. Off to a show... A tribute to the Beatles!

A tribute to the Beatles

The midnight buffet! Look but don't eat and take lots of photos!!!! The smell of chocolate just overwhelmed me! Nope, I didn't stay up for the 12:30 eating of the buffet... I went to bed...but some of our cruisemates decided to stay up for the night dancing, drinking, eating pizza and then ...EXERCISING!! sing along with me....Two of these Two are not like the others...two of these two just don't belong, can you guess which two are not like the others before I finish my song?....... hint..since when do you exercise is evening wear!?!

A beautiful 30 min walk and run along the deck at 7 AM...yes, those two joined us! And then the time had come...... WEIGH IN!!!

I stepped on the scale saying "Oh I probably stayed the same...I hope..I did have some cookies, and a bit of icecream..oh yea and some fries...but I did run the 9 flights of stairs and ate most of the time perfectly....
What? What's that you say? I lost 4 lbs!! Whooo Hooooo!!!!

And what!? 2" off bust, waist and hips each!?
Even better!!!!!!!!!

Our Final dinner together...
I decided to let Chee Chee do my hair....

Joanne had her hair done too and what a difference it made! Dixie, Laura, Diane and I posing pretty!

Dixie, Laura, and I ordered dessert! Chris was happy!!

The next morning our bags packed and our goodbyes all said. We made some new friends and had a blast! As we disembarked we ran into some from our group and decided a photo of our leaving was appropriate.....hey girls turn and smile!!!!.........

Hey you! YOU WITH THE CAMERA! NO taking photos in the terminal can't you read the sign!?!...ummm do any of you see a sign...well there is one...at the very top of the ramp behind alll those people ahead of us! LOL!

Our Trip to the beach

2008-02-22T09:21:00.007-05:00

I'm back and semi unpacked from the cruise. It was an amazing trip on which I learned alot, made many new friends, laughed, spent wonderful time with my sister and relaxed! It was sad to see it over but I came home with so many memories!

We got to take three excursions; one on St. Maarten, one on St. Lucia and one on St. Kitts. If I had to choose a favorite, I'd have to say I have two! My first being our trip off of St. Maarten over to the Island of Anguilla. Three years ago, my sister met Bob and Melinda Blanchard, writers of the books “Live What You Love” and “A Trip to the Beach” and owners of Blanchard’s and Zurra’s, two restaurants on the island of Anguilla. Diane had a sort of pen pal friendship with Bob and Melinda and when I asked her to come along on this cruise with me, she immediately contacted them to let them know we would be stopping on the island of St. Maarten. They were excited to have us see Anguilla and told us how to get there. SO, on the 14th we jumped a taxi, and then grabbed a water taxi to the island of Anguilla. BUT the adventure is so much more involved than this. We got to the ferry and this gentleman kept giving us direction… go to that window, pay ferry tax at next window… you have ½ hour to browse kiosks before the ferry comes…. Then the connection was made. I got to talking to this man and he asked how we were getting around the island. Seems he has a taxi service. I told him we were there for the day visiting ‘friends’. He asked where they were staying and when Diane mentioned they owned a restaurant called Blanchard’s, the man smiled and said, “OH Bobby and Mel?” It so happens to be that he is “Nell” from the book “A Trip to the Beach”. We hired Nell to be our taxi for the day. He called Bob and Mel and told them he had us. He brought us to Zurra’s were we were expected and shown to a table out on the veranda overlooking the golf course and ocean…breathtaking!!! Bob and Mel arrived and treated us to lunch, sitting with us while we ate. I took one bite of my chicken curry salad and my mouth screamed “Its fiesta time!” it was a whole party experience!! Bob and Mel were down to earth and very friendly, they were wonderful hosts. You got the feeling that you’d been friends with them forever. Conversation, pictures and goodbyes were over with and upon leaving, we picked up copies of books to buy only to have them signed by Gerrilyn our hostess and Nel himself. Nel then drove us over to see Blanchard’s restaurant, a cute intimate place on the beach that serves dinner. We explored a little and were then off to Shoal Bay, a recommended stop by Mel and Bob, where we walked bare foot on the beautiful beach by aquamarine colored waters. It was definitely a stop to make! We took many photos and made wishes to someday come back for a stay with our families. We then hopped into the taxi for a little island sightseeing and then to make the 3pm ferry in time to get back to our ship by the skin of our teeth! Had we not made it back they wouldn't have waited on us as we were not on a cruise sanctioned trip! Phew!!

Rock and Roll Meme

2008-02-04T23:02:00.000-05:00

My sister, www.talesfromtheelasticwaistband@blogspot.com had a new meme on her blog so I'm giving it a try! Its a musically inspired Meme found at Vexed in the City called the Let's Make a Band Meme!

The rules are as follows:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.(you might have to click new random quotes at the bottom)

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

You then take the pic and add your band name and the album title to it, then post your pic. Tada!

Okay so

This were my 3 results. I was floored by the results as I have such a connection lately to all things spiritual. So without furthur ado, my new pretend debut album "As The Clouds Roll By" by Our Reason For Living!

I've been listening to http://www.devapremalmiten.com/ Deva Premal and Miten. I Love, love, Love the song playing here. It is called "So much magnificence"

If for some reason it isn't playing...go over to the right, scroll down and hit the play button on the esnips player!

As for the Meme...Go on now and make your own! Let me know you've made one so I can check it out!!

Lisa

Jicama

2008-01-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

Jicama, jicama, jicama... say it fast its fun!

Recently, on my Fat Flush support forum, I came across a post that mentioned jicama. The poster mentioned eating it with her salsa.... like chips.... "What the heck is it?" I wondered.

I went in search at my local grocery store and in my mind's eye I was looking for a green veggie. I didn't find it at my local store nor at the grocery store that services many local Hispanic families. It wasn't until I stopped at a not so local Whole Foods that I happened to see the name plate that said "Jicama" I was so excited! but a bit surprised to see it wasn't a green looking veggie but a veggie that resembled an alien looking potato!

I bought one and brought it home and immediately googled jicama. I came across a site that explained it was a root and popular in Mexico. It can be eaten cooked or raw. I went right to the Fat Flush board and happy to report my fellow seasoned Fat Flushers didn't let me down!

Jicama can be used as a dipping food. Cut it a variety of ways and eaten raw. You can dip it in salsa, soups, stews etc. You can slice it thin or grate it and make it into a slaw with carrots and daikon. You can cook it up in a stir fry or in a soup...think water chestnuts. I ate mine with a little lemon juice, cinnamon and stevia yum yum!

I found it to have a mildly sweet flavor. It is deliciously crunchy like celery but without those annoying celery strings!! It is sometimes referred to as a Mexican potato but it is a 'freebie' as far as a food goes...you can eat this anytime during the day as a snack or with a meal.

So here's to the jicama! My new favorite veggie!! Crunch on!

Rememberance

2008-01-20T20:43:00.000-05:00

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. ~Kahlil Gibran

Thomas Robert November 19, 1962 - January 21, 2002

In That Moment

by Lisa

In that moment

that moment

when time and space all but stood still

when breath was held

awaiting an inhale from you

that didn't come at all

All my senses were heightened

taking in the sounds of

the room that had been held in

faded distance

until that moment

That moment

when the colors of the room and the sunlight

faded to a dull and dreary pallor

and just as you exhaled

I ceased to be

And slipped just as quietly away

into that space

that space of waiting

in the time between

no longer

and not yet

Today, January 21st, I have been widowed for 6 years. Its hard to fathom that that much time has gone by.

I think on it, dwell on it...

Today my daughter has lived half her life without a daddy. He has missed loose teeth, first communions, our sons' first trumpet performances and our daughter's saxaphone performance. He's missed scout outings and crossovers, puppy love and first girlfriends and while he has missed all the growing they have done, they have missed him just as much.

Tom lighting my birthday candles on my last birthday celebrated with him.

Tom was my best friend, my only lover, my all, my everything and I am forever grateful....

I am grateful to have had such a man in my life and for how much he loved me

I am grateful for his deep love for our children

for his silly sense of humor and

for his serious side

for his understanding of finances

and for his patience when I didn't quite understand them!

for his hugs and his kisses

and his very gentle and caring side.

for his support in my dreams and endeavors

and for his dreams for our future.

for his ability to plan (which can drive a spontaneous person crazy sometimes!)

and for his way of telling it like it is.

for his smile

and for just..... him.

He taught me so much in life and now, I have learned to do so many things on my own I never thought I'd be able to;

keep the house,

pay the mortgage

do simple repairs

paint rooms
fix a toilet,
do yard work,
take out a loan,
hire a contractor

run a lawnmower, snow blower, saws all and chainsaw!

kyak

write poetry

Raise $10,400.00 in his memory for the American Heart Association
and the list goes on and on....

Things to look forward to....

Our children who do small things or have certain expressions that remind me so much of him.

Our oldest graduating from high school next year.

My graduation from graduate school in a year!

Finding someone else in this life to love me as Tom did, someone who can bring joy and happiness into my life, someone who makes me laugh and I know somehow Tom will help me out in this department.... hey he sure helped me out with the cruise contest!

So I sit here with some tears, remembering Tom, and holding onto my truth that he was such a delight to have pass through my life.

And the winner is!!!!

2008-01-13T20:32:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, its me!!!! I won!!! The above pictured ship will be my home away from home February 11-19Th as I cruise the Caribbean!!! I'm very excited!

Here is my testimony

It’s not uncommon for people to say, “Fat Flush Plan?? Never heard of it! Is it a fad diet?” when I respond to the question, “You look great, what have you been doing?” Three years ago I said the same thing to a grief counselor who was living the Fat Flush way of life. I was skeptical and had a preconceived notion that like any diet I’d tried, this too would not work for me.
I have always held a bit of weight on my 5’ 3” frame. I was often on a diet. My husband loved to cook and often our meals were high in carbohydrates and fatty meats. While he stayed slim, I gained weight. It was during my second pregnancy that I developed gestational diabetes. I was sent to an endocrinologist and a nutritionist, who had me trying to control the diabetes with a diet lower on the glycemic index. This worked for me and I walked out of the hospital weighing less than I did when I’d conceived. My 3rd and final pregnancy would have me on insulin shots and pricking my fingers. After delivery, I was deemed to be borderline diabetic and advised to control it with diet and to test my blood sugars daily. I continued to struggle with the weight, moving up and down the scale. My highest weight reached a devastating 199 pounds!

Me at my highest weight

I tried a low carbohydrate diet that seemed to be working and felt like life was finally turning a corner when I encountered a life changing event. In January 2002, my husband went in to the hospital for an aortic valve transplant. Something went wrong during the operation and my husband suffered a massive bilateral stroke placing him in a coma. The week leading up to his death was fraught with many emotionally devastating decisions on my part and in the end; there was no choice but to let him go. I was suddenly a widow at 38 and left to raise our 3 small children alone.
At first, I went home and couldn't eat. I lost weight and tried to survive the best I could. Hunger finally returned a few weeks later and then I couldn’t stop eating. I see now that I was eating my grief. Home cooked meals became nonexistent. I often ordered out or took the kids to fast food restaurants. If given the opportunity to cook, I was so tired from working and the grief, that I didn’t know what to make and often made plain noodles! Our meals were completely carb overloaded!! I ballooned up to 187 lbs and carried the weight of my grief around with me. Again and again I turned to a popular diet that I believed would help if only I stayed with it. Each encounter seemed to leave me gaining the weight back and adding extra pounds. I was diagnosed with depression and put on antidepressants. I was tired all the time, but couldn’t sleep. I snored when I did manage to get a few hours and would wake up exhausted. I often had indigestion and issues that resembled IBS. I ate to pass the time when I was bored and often would snack in the middle of the night while on the computer or watching TV.

In the beginning of May 2007, I took a good look at myself in the mirror and burst into tears. I recalled the book the grief counselor had shown me and searched for it on Amazon.com. I bought a copy of the Fat Flush plan along with the cook book and the journal. The day it arrived, I read the book cover to cover. It all made sense to me and on May 28th, weighing 187 lbs; I took a leap and began eating the Fat Flush way. I lost 16 pounds within the first two weeks detoxing. I took the advice in the book and went online to Unikey and placed my first order for the Fat Flush Kit. The change in my energy and feeling of well being was almost immediate after I began taking the supplements. I have taken multivitamins in the past but the quality of the Fat Flush kit was evident in not only my energy levels but also the way my skin began to look and feel…so much clearer! I began sleeping better and my stomach issues decreased and finally ceased all together.

In August, I went for my yearly physical and my endocrinologist was impressed with the weight loss. She took down the name of the book and was going to buy a copy for herself. She ordered the regular tests and I'm happy to report that I am no longer considered pre-diabetic, my cholesterol levels all fall within the normal ranges and I have been removed from the antidepressants.

Here I am having reached my first goal of 145 lbs

I reached my first goal of 145 in October, 4 months after beginning and then set my next goal of losing 10 lbs. My clothing size has dropped from a size 18/20 to a size 10! and I have dropped 14 inches. I have never felt or looked this good since prior to getting married! I managed to get through the holidays with a 6 lb gain but once back on track, I dropped the 6 lbs and took off 2 more! by following the plan and exercising. Being a teacher, I am very public within my small town. I am often told how good I look and asked about the diet I am following. I am happy to share the name of the book and website and we now have new Fat Flushers cropping up in my town! I know with the support from the forum and Ann Louise herself, I will reach my ultimate goal.
Thank you Ann Louise and Unikey!
Lisa

Today weighing in at 141 a total loss of 46 lbs!

This first prize award came with its own trials and stresses. I am one that has been learning to stand up for myself. I'm reminded more and more how Tom would want me to stand strong in the face of adversity, how he always encouraged me to stand up and be strong. I can't say I have always been so. I was at first awarded second prize and after some discussion about how the rules of the contest were presented, I was then named winner. I'm thrilled to be going and even more thrilled to meet other fat flushers as well as attend all the seminars and learn even more about eating this way for a healthier life! My older sister will be accompanying me on the trip. She and my brother in law have been so supportive and are always there with guidance and help when its been needed. We got away for a 'girls' weekend last year and I know we will have a blast on the cruise together!

I was not without help from my very special angel though! Monday January 21st marks the 6Th anniversary since Tom's death. I sat up at his grave and talked and cried about this situation with him. I sat there looking for his guidance in just how to follow through. I played in my head conversations we'd shared in the past when I'd come up against walls before. I felt him so close this week. I know that he had a hand in the outcome... hey even the ship itself is a sign! The ship's name?? The Carnival MIRACLE!

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year

2008!

The holidays were filled with family, friends and lots of food! While the kids played with their new Christmas video games and gadgets, I ate cookies and chocolate! I put on 5 lbs but once January 1st came about, I made plans to begin a detox regime and lose what I gained.

As I stood in the supermarket checkout line, a magazine caught my attention. "First For Women" had the big headline "Miracle Detox" plastered on the front. I stood in line and did what all bored grocery shopping patrons do... I read the article! It was written by non other than my hero Ann Louise Gittleman who authors "The Fat Flush Program" that I follow when not eating holiday goodies. The detox looked easy enough (3 days) so I bought the magazine and excitedly went home and made up a pitcher of the 'miracle juice' which is basically the cranwater I drink daily with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, fresh squeezed oj and lemon juices. Yesterday, each hour on the hour, I drank either an 8 oz glass of miracle juice or an 8 oz glass of water.
I woke this morning to a grand loss of 4 lbs! :) Today I went shopping up at Whole Foods for my flaxseed oil and other necessesities we were out 0f. I came upon a supply of cut oranges to 'sample' and was happy to take one. Then I came upon a sample plate of chocolate coated biscotti......and happy to say I reached to take one but that voice in my head screamed YOU DON"T NEED ONE! and I happily went on my way without putting one in my mouth.

This year I commit to staying healthy and eating right with more weight loss and lost inches as the perk!

I'd love to go on a cruise this year

By the way..I won 2nd place in the Unikeyhealth.com 's contest (grand prize was a cruise, I won $350 gift certificate to their store which is where I buy my vitamins)

So....here's to a recommittment to me in 2008!

Not a creature was stirring.....

2007-12-24T23:03:00.000-05:00

We spent a quiet Christmas Eve here at home this year. My parents came for a brief visit and took us out to lunch today. Then we were back home finishing up some laundry and getting the house ready for Christmas day.

As usual, I pulled out the Candle Wreath Ceremony the kids and I have done for the past five years.

Basically, you have 5 candles placed among a centerpiece of branches (I get pine boughs and holly berry branches and lay them around our advent 'wreath'.

Each person then reads a line that talks about what the candle they are lighting represents.

Here are the words...

A wreath is a traditional part of the holidays in most homes. For this ceremony, I have placed 5 candles amongst the swag on our holiday table.

Today we light these five candles in honor and in memory of Dad. We light one for our grief, on for our courage, one for our memories, one for our love, and one for our hope.

This candle represents our grief. The pain of losing you, although softened, can sometimes still be intense. It reminds us of the depth of our love for you and how much we continue to miss you every day.

This candle represents our courage to comfort our sorrow, to comfort each other and to change our lives as we continue to move forward.

This candle is in your memory. It represents the times we laughed, the times we cried, the times we were angry with each other, the silly things you did and the caring and joy you gave us.

This candle is the light of love. As we enter this holiday season, day by day we cherish the special place in our hearts that will always be reserved for you. We thank you for the gift your living brought to each of us.

And this candle is the light of hope. It reminds us of love and memories of you that are ours forever. May the glow of the flame be our source of hopefulness now and forever.

After the ceremony we enjoyed a wonderful roast beef dinner and then after cleaning up the dishes together, the kids exchanged gifts with one another and with me (I always buy them their Christmas jammies).

One of my tutoring students stopped by with her parents to bring me and the kids a gift, which was very sweet of them. The kids opened up a Pirates of the Caribbean DVD game while I am set for a soak in the tub with a spa kit! The kids and I enjoyed playing the game together and it was a lot of fun. After some TV, baking cookies and laying the gifts out, they all headed off to bed by 10pm and now the house is still and quiet.

Tomorrow they will probably arise by 7am and then call their paternal grandparents who will come for present opening and breakfast. We'll go to mass then come home and have the day to ourselves. This will be the first year I am actually attempting this. The past years, I've felt the need to be anywhere but here with the memories and would generally head down to my sister's or to my parents. This year, it just felt okay to be here in the stillness and memories.

Happy Christmas!

From our house to yours

2007-12-16T21:12:00.000-05:00

From our family to yours

The

tree is up

Excitement fills the air

Wreaths fill the doorways

Cards still needing to be sent

Christmas is just around the corner

Merry

Merry!

Snowing

2007-12-13T15:44:00.000-05:00

Its snowing today. We are having our first of the season Nor' Easter and expecting about a foot of snow!!

I ran around last night and then during lunch hour getting supplies needed.. rock salt, gas for the snowblower, a cap for the snowblower gas tank. Then today I got eggs, bread, apples, milk...ya know all the 'supplies' needed.... no, no chips or junk food as I don't eat those anymore!

Tonight will be a time to get the driveway plowed out so that we can all get to work and school...funfunfun!

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-25T13:51:00.000-05:00

This week brought many people and things to be thanksful for.

I am thankful for the children in my classroom and all the wonder and giving attitudes they brought with them to our "Friendship Feast" this past week.

I am thankful for the gift of my family. 30 of us gathered at my sister's house for food and fun.

I think the highlight of the day was the opportunity for each of us to talk to my nephew Dave who is in Mali with the Peace Corps. We got in touch with him on his cell phone as he was biking back to his village through the Sahara Desert! Isn't Technology wonderful!

I am thankful for my late husband's family. They came from as far away as Virginia to celebrate a meal together. We arrived in time for dessert. The kids had a great time just being with their cousins and catching up with one another.

I am thankful for the workshop I attended this weekend. I made new friends and caught up with others I'd made at previous gatherings. We had a great time together and enjoyed the time with one another laughing and learning!

Leaves, leaves, leaves

2007-11-21T08:45:00.000-05:00

For years as a child, I dreaded the words..Yard Work...when emitted from the mouth of my father.
He would gather all 5 of us and hand us each a rake to gather up the fallen leaves in the yard and out from under the bushes surrounding the house. A chore that took most of the day.

So now that my own children are old enough to pass the torch...or rake... I set up enlisting help with the Yard Work on the long Weekend we just had.
P was the fist draftee.... when he decided he wasn't going to church this past Sunday. I then handed him his rake. He had all plans of sitting and enjoying a video game but I convinced him that fresh air would be better for him.
He made quite a dent in the knee high layer of leaves in the side yard.

M and S were enlisted next as they burst into laughter seeing their brother working upon their arrival home. With all three out in the yard with rakes and the leaf blower, I decided a trip to the store and some out of the house errands could be accomplished. Upon arriving home, I noticed the rakes but no signs of the hands......yep... found them in front of the TV!

After a few more hours of work, I ended their work shift and they got some R&R time. The following day they were sent back out to finish the job. This time they brought the dogs out for entertainment...and got mom to help too...I especially enjoyed the leaf blower detail.

They piled leaves and jumped in them, had a leaf fight and carried tarp fulls of leaves up back. They worked hard and the yard looked good.
Upon completion, I took them all out to dinner and complimented them on their hard work and job commitment. They were very proud of what they'd accomplished as I'm sure that first day it looked like and impossible task that lay ahead of them.

With the storm and wind that came through this past week...our neighbors leaves have encroached on our leaf free property...but nothing a leaf blower can't rectify!

Next family fun activity???? Wood stacking...I'm sure my volunteers will be lining up to be the first to receive their work gloves...don't you?

Another year older.....but who's counting?

2007-11-20T20:31:00.000-05:00

Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again.

~Menachem Mendel Schneerson Toward a Meaningful Life: The Wisdom of the Rebbe, 1995

For the past six years, November 18th and 19th have been trying dates on the calendar. The 18th is my birthday and the 19th was Tom's. This year, I vowed I would approach the day differently than in the past. Unfortunately, the tears still showed up on the doorstep as the day grew closer. I however, pushed them aside and set up a plan for myself. Instead of waiting on what my children or friends might do for me or with me on the day, I went into action.

I planned:
A shopping date alone
A massage
Workout time at the gym
tub soakings with instructions to children to leave mom in peace for an hour!
A lunch date with a friend to our favorite Thai place
Coffee and conversation (and they brought cheese cake) with friends and my kids

It was a wonderful birthday weekend! Monday came with Tom's birthday and thoughts of our life together. I came home and was surprised by an anonymous delivery of beautiful yellow roses with a card that only read "Happy Birthdays, We Love You". I smiled and relished the memories of birthdays past when the yellow roses were always from Tom. Thank you my anonymous friends for the gift of love and loving memories.

A week in review

2007-11-04T20:45:00.000-05:00

It feels like its been a long time since my last post. Life has been a bit busy so I created a collage of some of my favorite things that went on in the past week and a half.

We had a visit from a local fireman. I was chosen (Yes I raised my hand!!) to don the fire fighter gear. WOW those coats, hats and the tank are VERY heavy! It was great fun and my students got a kick out of me dressed up.

I took my class on a field trip to a farm! I love this place...its makes for a wonderful field trip. We got to visit with the animals, walk around the grounds, make butter, spin wool and the highlight was eating lunch outside at the picnic spot :) We saw some funny looking ducks with mohawks too!

Our Halloween celebration was a blast. The children paraded around the school and serenaded their parents with Halloween songs. I'm the ghost!

Our final visitor was a local dental hygenist who came the day after Halloween...great planning by this teacher! She had a great dog puppet with dentures...too funny!! The kids sat so attentively for half an hour learning about keeping teeth healthy and foods that are good and bad for your teeth....they also got new toothbrushes and floss to take home!

The chicken in the collage is our chicken Bub, who resides here at my house. She was so excited to have laid an egg the other day that she clucked and clucked and ran about the pen! She gave me a good laugh. I opened the door to the nesting box and there was her egg and two others so I guess she might have thought she'd laid them all! LOL! The bigger egg in the photo is a blue Aracana egg, I love the shade of blue she lays.

A Fall Day

2007-10-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

The trees fully popped into their brillant reds, oranges and yellows around here. I took my morning walk and was just amazed at every turn of the road. I absolutely love this time of year and it helps that this week the weather has been in the upper 60's to 70's during the day and cool at night.

I returned home and then went to mass and grocery shopping. I grabbed my camera and headed off for pictures to capture the beauty of New England's Fall showing.

Along my walking route, I pass over the town river and love this view. S has a friend who lives by this river and it helps that his dad is a landscaper. The yard slopes right down to the water.

Their sheep they just acquired (personal lawn mowers) appeared seeming to bid me good morning and get in a group photo under the trees!

Later, I decided to take M and a friend off for a hike at a local state park. The weather was to good to sit around cleaning the house or cutting out pumpkins for tommorw's lesson plan... so off we went with Chloe in tow! There were so many people and most brought along their dogs. I love hiking on the trails and grounding myself in nature. M and friend enjoyed one another's company. Its wonderful to see my daughter interacting with her best friend. These two have been friends since they were 18 months old. They confide in one another and cheer one another up and are always together. They are very blessed to have one another.

While we were happy to be out and about, Chloe was anything but. She slowed down, sniffed at leaves, dragged on the leash and finally decided enough was enough! M came up with the perfect solution!

It solved the problem of getting Chloe through the woods...but leaves me to think this dog has issues! How many dogs don't like romping in the woods???

All in all it was a great hike and one I'm glad to have taken the opportunity to enjoy it with the girls.

A Golden Celebration

2007-10-15T13:20:00.000-04:00

"A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love."
Pearl S. Buck

October 12, 1957, my parents pledged to love, honor and cherish one another until death do they part. They have kept this promise to one another for 50 years now. Throughout my life, I have been blessed and have had the good fortune of living in a household with a couple who truly love and cherish one another. My parents have always given one another the room to grow and succeed in their interests and each is the others biggest supporter.

I have many fond memories of the love my parents have shown to one another and how their commitment to each other was taught to us through example. I carry into my adult years memories of my father and mother hugging and kissing one another, dancing, singing and enjoying each other's company. They put their relationship in a place of importance and each year, around their anniversary, they took a trip to Bermuda to honor their marriage. Growing up, I believed that every one's parents were this way. It wasn't until I was much older that I came to understand how blessed I truly was.

So this past weekend, we gathered with family, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends and celebrated this truly special anniversary.

My older sister spent many hours putting together a beautiful scrap book filled with pictures of my parents, our family, their friends and past times. It will be a book I know my mom and dad will cherish. She and my younger sister made it all possible with the countless hours of creating table gifts, ordering the cake, compiling the list of guests and their meal choices and coordinating the rest of us! To them I say THANK YOU!

My oldest brother acted as officiant and stood with my parents and their best friends as they renewed their wedding vows to one another.
I listened to my mother reading her vows to my father and felt the love they share emanating through the room filled with those closest to them.

My parents have shared 50 years of working together, sharing, compromising, being flexible, negotiating with one another, raising 5 children (which wasn't always easy on them!) and most of all loving one another..... and as my brother said, may they share another 50 years together. May we all be someday just as blessed.

October 10

2007-10-10T20:59:00.000-04:00

Fourteen years ago today, we welcomed into our lives our second born son, Samuel.
Little did we know the joy, light and laughter this small being would elicit.

Sam did not come easily into this world. He preferred his cozy accommodations and was born 12 days late. He weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 7 oz and was 22" long. He smiled his first day and could hold his head up for brief periods. In short, I gave birth to a 1 month old! He was rolling over at two months and walking and climbing on the table at 10 months!

We called him our little pumpkin, little bear and our favorite nickname
"hug" as he was so full of them! He was such a happy baby! People would stop me in the grocery store to touch his head of curls.

And such a determined toddler he was! Here he looks to be telling us he needs no help driving Papa's boat!

Things I love about you Sam.....

I love the way you love your brother and sister Sam, you have such a devoted bond to your family!

I love your energy and zest for life. I love how you set your mind on something and just do it! You make me very proud!!

I love how you embrace the world and all it throws at you good and bad.

I love your laugh.

I love how caring and gentle you are with those smaller and weaker than yourself. You are so much like your dad and one day you are going to grow up and make a wonderful daddy yourself!

I love your quiet side and how well you express yourself through your own writing.

I love the comedic side you have and how you make me laugh. Your sense of humor is well appreciated by many!

but most of all...
I LOVE YOU!
Happy birthday Sam!

A Question

2007-10-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I was sharing my blog with a friend. I had been talking about it and wanted to share with her my latest post. As she perused my blog, I pointed out the list of blogs I visit and we linked on one of my favorite daily reads, "Holy Experience".
The woman who writes this blog, writes in such a way it touches my very soul and uplifts me where I am.

Today was no exception. On her blog was the word "Question" and this excerpt from a Mary Oliver Poem entitled Summer Day

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

Very good question and one to ponder indeed. I sat listening to the lovely piano music that plays in the back round, contemplating this question. I have begun to formulate plans for this life of mine. It has taken me almost 6 years to get to this place.
When Tom died, my plans for a future died with him. No longer could I plan to grow and live with him by my side. The person I was with him, exists no more. I had to accept that. I had to plan anew. But how does one plan when you don't know who you are anymore? I worked on finishing my certification in a specialized reading program and then dabbled in taking graduate level courses in Special Education. I worked on myself, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I prayed a lot and began to gain a better insight into who I was becoming.

This summer, my very good friend talked with me about an online Master's program that she was interested in taking. It looked interesting and the best part? It is all on line! At first we were both going to pursue an MS ed with concentration in Inclusion. When I talked in length to the admissions coordinator, it became clear that it was not the route I wanted to go. I was disappointed and feeling stuck until I talked at length with my friend who'd chosen the MS ed Literacy K-12. This felt right and I immediately called Kate, my admissions coordinator. On Friday, I passed in my application, supplement application and essay. I'd stressed over the essay for three days and finally went with what flowed forth from my fingers. Feeling it wasn't my best piece of writing, I sent it off anyway.

Today, I received an email from Kate. They were reviewing my graduate application today and she felt she wanted to pass on an email that the Program Director sent to the Program Manager regarding my essay.

Wow---

Lisa's essay is one of the most touching I have ever read!!! Please convey to her my very best wishes in the program. She sounds like an amazingly resilient, caring person! (If you think that would be appropriate... I feel as though I should respond somehow to such a personal, heartfelt piece).

Thanks, Dayle

Martha

In the moment of reading those words, I was shocked, proud and humbled. I am on my way to becoming the person I am destined to become in so many different ways. This is part of the plan that has been put into motion.

The question....

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

Live it moment by moment.

Gathering Chestnuts

2007-10-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

chestnuts I gathered sitting in a cherry bowl made by my friend Ron.

This morning I got up and decided to get my walk in early. As I began my walk, I crested the top of the first hill and was aware that I was not out of breath as I sometimes have been. I decided to see how far I could run the next part of my walking route. I made it quite a distance before I needed to stop and walk. Feeling pretty pleased with myself, I walked a far piece (mostly an uphill walk) and then challenged myself to run from point A to point B on another leg of my route. Again I met the challenge. When I came to point B, there I found, much to my delight, chestnuts strewn around the ground just waiting for someone to come along and pick them up! I kept thinking of how happy my students would be to use them for counting and holding. As I gathered the chestnuts it felt like I was being rewarded and with each gathered chestnut, my pockets filled and swelled.

I sit here thinking of this past week and how many 'chestnuts' I've placed within my pockets this week....

*I finished my grad school application and submitted it, feeling excited, yet nervous, with the ability to further my education. Loan applications here I come!!

*I was told I was appreciated by a parent in my room. She says I give her great advice, am always honest and answer all her questions. This felt so good to hear!

Sunflowers given in appreciation by Caitlin's mom.

*I hugged and kissed my children more this week, telling them I love them.

*I walked twice this week so far, staying on phase 1 of the Fat Flush plan and dropped 3 more pounds making it to my first goal!

*I made very healthy choices in my food and in my sleep habits.

*I spoke my truth to my boss regarding no raise this year when everything costs more and I am raising my children on my own.

With pockets full, I continued my walk and came to a stretch again that was a challenge to run. As I ran, the weight of the chestnuts began dragging my shorts down and I slowed to a brisk walk again. I thought about all I do and accomplish and how to much pride can swell your head, weighing you down. To much pride can get in the way of being there for others. As I walked, I thought of those who help me on this path I walk. (and sometimes run) I am blessed to have each and every one of them in my life. I think of those who touched my life this week in small yet meaningful ways.

*My younger sister who listened as I cried about feeling overwhelmed.

*My friends with whom I gather each Wednesday sharing fellowship and prayer.

*The anonymous friend who left grocery store gift certificates in my mailbox

*The hugs I receive from my students.

*The love and help from my children daily.

*The compliments from friends on my weight loss.

*My online mom friends who send me hugs because they are thinking of me.

*The laughter and camaraderie shared on the soccer field between other parents.

*The stranger who made Patrick and I see that there are good people in the world. This person found Patrick's wallet and mailed it back to him. No note, no return address, just simple kindness. We'll never know who took the $10 and the gift card but are grateful for the kindness in returning the wallet.

All of these balance who I am. So I will continue to gather these chestnuts that fall on the path I am walking. Each one swelling with pride and accomplishment.