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
Cracked Heart Dump
It's Monday, and I ought to have been refreshed, rested, ready to take on the world on a Monday morning - and I guess I was in a way, because I did get to spend Saturday doing laundry and cleaning my house really well, (really, really well - like, I washed every baseboard in the whole 1000 square feet I reside in). Yep. But man oh man, did it ever feel good to sit down in the evening after a bubble bath and enjoy my hard work! And I did get to have lunch with a group of ladies after church, and a visit in the afternoon from two of my close friends. So, I should feel rested and ready to go on Monday morning, right? But it's amazing how much the junk in my life will try to sink me... I felt emotionally exhausted today, beginning very early this morning. Then, an email came ... View Post
March… Muah!
I'm about to be up past my bedtime, but sticking to my goal of blogging every month in 2022! Turning back to the month of March in my calendar, I'm now convinced that cute little calendars with small pages will likely never, ever work for me. March was CRAZY busy! If you're feeling led to pray for me, please pray that the IRS cashes the check I sent them very early in March. I check daily, a little concerned that they won't let me know they've received it before March 15. I took my Mom to see Mary Poppins, Jr. at a local theater, and then out for Mexican food for her 85th birthday. She enjoyed herself, but I'm not sure she'd do it again. I must be the only nerd in the family who enjoys local theater. The absolute HIGHLIGHT of my month was getting a visit from my friends of ... View Post
Dinosaurs & Marbles
French fries on the floor of the back seat, mud tracked up the stairs on the light grey carpet, crumbs under the kitchen table, hand prints on the freshly windex'd front door... When we're young Moms, we're certain we'll never, ever miss these things. Last week, Edna called laughing, excited to tell me about her Saturday morning doing house chores. Vacuuming under the living room couch, she came across her great grandson's toy dinosaur - a reminder of his recent visit. She was laughing HYSTERICALLY! Just a little while after our conversation, I felt as though I too, should probably vacuum under my couch, and lo and behold - 3 marbles came rolling out from a game Owen, Lyla and I played when they visited me a few months ago. Let's face it. We really DON'T miss the crumbs, the ... View Post
My Empty Nest Prayer
It's likely that some of my friends are growing tired of me recommending that "Aging With Grace," book I read last year and enjoyed so much. It's also likely I'm going to keep recommending it. And, I can't tell you how many times since savoring those pages, I've sat down to write something new I've learned about being a mother-in-law, having grown and married sons, grandchildren, or another brand new daughter-in-law, or a myriad of other parenting nuggets of what sort of feels like it might be a little bit of wisdom. But then either my fingers rest on the keyboard and my mind goes blank or... (more often), I worry that I'll sound like a know-it-all. And I really don't want to sound like a know-it-all. Being a know-it-all is sooo unattractive. Then today I was having a deep ... View Post
Penguins, Puddles, & Squishy Worms
My Dad used to tell the same jokes over, and over, and over, and over. No one ever seemed to mind though. In fact, most people enjoyed my Dad so much that they just let him tell them over and over, and they laughed as if they'd heard them for the very first time. I miss my Dad's jokes, and I miss my Dad. I too, tell a story over and over. I'm not so sure people enjoy hearing it over and over, but I tell it anyways. Just because. Mum used to drop me off early for kindergarten at Ashcroft Elementary, because I loved playing Duck, Duck, Goose outside the school before class started. She and my brother would watch me get out of the car, and walk until I was safely under the awning with the other kids, and then Mum would leave to drop Larry off at St. Robert's for 2nd grade. After ... View Post
Scrubbing Stains & Singing Hymns
I was only at my son and daughter-in-law's home about ten minutes before the idea of playing our "airplane game" was brought up. Soon Lyla and Owen were carrying their small chairs down the stairs to line them up in the foyer. Then they pushed the bar stools from the kitchen out there as well. We each chose a different color of construction paper, drew pictures on them, wrote our names, and Vwa! La! Pretend passports! The kids got in line with their pretend luggage in the kitchen, gave me their identification and passports to scan, and told me their pretend names while I pretended to be the "ticket checker." We then boarded our pretend airplane, brought our pretend pets with us, clicked our pretend seat belts, and excitedly anticipated our pretend take-off. Oh, by the way, I was ... View Post
Frosty February 2022
I turned the page in my calendar today. February is finished, and all but a few of those 31 little blocks in the month of March are blank, which is what February looked like 29 days ago. I love having every weekend off. Yeah, you read that right... every. single. weekend. I've come a long way from the "cadre days!" And! February 6 marked the one-year anniversary since friends and family helped me lug everything I own across town into my new little condo with the great big porch! I cannot believe I've been here a year already! And I'm sitting here still laughing as I glance not only through all the "to do's" I crossed off in 28 days, but also across the room at my table. My scratched up, found by the road-side solid oak clawfoot table with a pretty greenish-blue table cloth ... View Post