It happened one day when I was feeding a very elderly woman with just a little bit of dementia. She wasn't very interested in having a conversation, but I just knew that somewhere inside of her was some wisdom. You don't make it to your 90's, or suffer any great illness without learning some stuff along the way! So I asked her, "what would you share with me in my 50's as the most valuable piece of wisdom you have learned over your lifetime?" After a considerable amount of time, she finally told me to stop feeding her dinner, and move on to the dessert - a great big piece of chocolate cake she'd been eyeing since her dinner tray arrived. Genius! I remember laughing out loud and saying what a great piece of advice that was! It was as if we were cut from the same cloth! And from ... View Post
Unlikely Influencers
Right now I'm sitting alone on my porch listening to the birds in the trees singing away without a care in the world. I still miss my old neighborhood, the friends who were close by, and the hustle and bustle outside, but I have really come to love sitting out here listening to these chirping melodies! It's nice to leave the phone in the house, and just sit here and listen. And think. And with all of the recent twists and turns in my life, I've really been thinking about so many different things lately - some that I wish I didn't have to think of, and others that I'm curious why I'd never thought about before! But I do love to sit and think about some crazy stuff. (Just ask my sister! When I pull out the list of questions to think about, I think she wants to pretend that she's ... View Post
Wrapping up May
The month of May ended 18 days ago, and I'm just now sitting down to journal all that I did... or didn't do! I actually had to flip back to May in my calendar to find out just what I'd done. It was THAT exciting of a month - and that's a good thing! I love boring months! Speaking of months, I just got a new calendar/journal from Etsy, filled with lists, and pockets, and as much as I want the month of June to last forever, I can't wait to start using the new calendar that starts with July. Some of you will get that! I'm six months into my new job now, and still getting used to being east of Woodward. I'm discovering I actually DO know some people on the side of town near my work, and there are some pretty sweet restaurants to visit! I've made it a goal to discover some new fun ... View Post
Bumps To Wrinkles – Happy Mama’s Day!
Happy Mother's Day!... I mean week! Seriously. I've been scrolling since Monday through the most heartfelt memories and photos from every Mama I know - young and old, including some of the young girls I know who grew up with my sons, stopping to have an "awwww...." moment, and even get a little choked up. Now they know how sweet it is to carry a baby, and how slow, yet how fast those nine precious months go by. Oh young ladies, you will forever cherish those sweet bumps! "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." Psalm 127:3 Social Media's "Post your baby bump pictures for Mother's Day!" challenges abound this weekend, and mine are now 28 and 30, and have wives. One of them has a one son, two daughters, and a coop full of chickens, and the ... View Post
Adios, April 2022!
Uneventful. That's how I would describe April 2022 - not because I didn't do anything, but because it was a pretty low-key month. On April 1st I turned 59. So strange how time flies faster and faster as you age... except winters. Winters definitely don't go by quickly. Winters, in fact, get longer and longer, and summers get shorter and shorter. It's a fact. I spent April catching up with people I hadn't seen for a while, and missed a LOT over the past two years. Since the snow and rain stuck around nearly every day, I was able to enjoy my see-through bubble umbrella, which I think is soooo fun! I enjoyed some lengthy phone dates with Annie and Sharon, I exchanged several pen-pal-like emails with my friend Mary, and Edna cooked me a birthday meal after work one day, and we ... View Post
Picnic Tables, Clotheslines, Kids, & Pot Roasts (not necessarily in that order)
My favorite place to visit is still my kitchen table. Most of the time my tablecloth doesn't match the rest of my decor. It seems more and more lately I need to keep cleaning it off too, because I spend a lot of time there, and for some odd reason, more than before. Breakfast, dinner, bills, homework, blogging, letter writing. (Yes, I still write old fashioned letters... handwritten, even). Recently Lyla, Owen, and I made caterpillar biscuits there, and rolled cookie dough onto a baking sheet. LIFE still happens at the kitchen table in my house. When I opened an airbnb, I made sure the kitchen was spotless with a little help from Hollywood florida airbnb cleaning services since I know people would be gathering there all of the time. There are a few girlfriends I've been trying to ... View Post
Say No to the Butt Lifter, & Get Yourself Some Pearls
Deciding what I'm going to wear to work tomorrow is not going to be difficult. I wear scrubs every day. Truly, the biggest decision I'm going to make regarding my wardrobe in the morning is whether or not I'm going to search for the matching sock, or just grab whatever. I mean - most of the time my socks match, but honestly... sometimes, I've got the green shamrock "Happy St. Paddy's Day" on the left, and Nurse socks on the right that say "show me your stethoscope." If I ever get in an accident and wind up in an ER, it'll be a good laugh for the staff. They might even know I did it on purpose. But on Saturday and Sunday, it's a completely different story. Yesterday I was getting ready for an outing with some girlfriends. Just like back when I was 18, there were about five ... View Post
Jimmy, The Irish Plumber
This morning I threw in some DVD's of my sons when they were young. Lyla and Owen were here, and they wanted to see what Daddy was like when he was a little boy. Well, they thought Daddy was a cute baby, that their little sister Maci looks just like him, and they thought that I looked absolutely ridiculous as a brunette. In fact, videos of me with my curly brunette hair sent them into a giggling fit that lasted way too long, and resulted in Owen almost choking on his own laughter. Lyla and Owen watched their Dad learn how to bowl, and play horse shoes down at the Yacht Club in Grosse Ile with the old Irish Crowd. I can't remember the event, but we never really needed a reason to gather and have fun. My mom was right when she told me to head down to the Gaelic League in search of ... View Post