There's a breeze coming in through the doorwall, the TV is off, there's absolutely no noise, and across the room I see my little figurine named "Rita" from the Disney movie "Flush" my friend Annie gave me for Christmas several years ago. She's sitting on the kitchen table, and I sware to you - she's staring right at me. Annie and I used to have this tradition where we would give each other a Christmas gift that didn't cost us anything. She was much more creative than I was, and when she gave me "Rita" she said it was because I reminded her of Rita's character - adventurous and brave, (and also probably because we share a name). Well, I'm not sure I'd describe myself as brave - adventurous YES!, but brave - eh. I dunno. Well, when I turned 50 I sillily (that is my new word) ... View Post
Without Excuse
Last night I woke up every time I turned my head. It's THAT time of year again when allergies cause me to have vertigo, and every toss and turn results in the beginnings of nausea until nothing but lying perfectly still makes it stop. Then I doze off, turn again, and then wake up nauseous, and repeat. It was a long night. Despite the annoying allergies, however, I am always grateful to welcome spring, even with its magnificent lightening and thunderstorms because eventually all of that rain brings about the burst of colorful spring blooms, and my neighborhood is especially gorgeous this time of year. Sadly though, some of the trees bloom for only about ten days - so vertigo or no vertigo, I had to pop some Benadryl and go for a stroll and enjoy the trees before they lose their ... View Post
Good Examples of Bad Examples
I spent yesterday evening at my kitchen table with a close friend discussing all sorts of things. There's nothing I love more than kitchen table company, with or without food! Among the 75 things we chatted about for quite some time, was who we admired, looked up to, and find ourselves wanting to be more like. Well, as I was waiting for my friend to text me and let me know she arrived home safely, I began thinking about not only the person I admire most, but someone I admire least. Call me odd, but these are the kinds of things that happen when you live alone - you either talk to yourself (and answer), or you start thinking about all sorts of different things. So, I started to think about people in my past. I've had so many I'm grateful for, who have provided good examples for ... View Post
Registered Nurses – America’s Most Trusted Profession
I hesitated whether or not to ever blog this. But you know me and my "late night ponderings..." I've told this story to a couple of close friends over the past month, and was finally convinced that it was worth putting out there - even if it's the shortest blog I ever write. Maybe that means I'm jotting, instead of blogging. I dunno. Anywhoozywhatsit...... I've been a nurse a long time. I've traveled with my patients hundreds of times to diagnostic tests, procedures, scans, or x-rays, where I've had to convince them to trust myself and a team of other healthcare providers to move them from the safety and comfort of their bed, to a cold, hard, sometimes very narrow - metal table. They've had to trust that we would on the count of three - 1, 2, 3 - get them from one surface to ... View Post
Jungle Dreams
You know those seasons or circumstances in life that you find out you were never prepared for? I was never really prepared for motherhood. I was never really prepared to lose a baby. I was never really prepared to be divorced. I was never really prepared to be a single mom. I was never really prepared to have to go back to school - twice. I was never really prepared to raise two teenage boys alone. I was never really prepared to have both of my sons leave home at the same time - permanently, making me an empty nester overnight. I was never really prepared to be a mother-in-law. I was never really prepared to be a grandmother. I was never really prepared to have my son move halfway across the country. And I was definitely never prepared for some of the heartaches I've ... View Post
Books, Bacon, & Friendship
Dear ThumbPrint News, I'll never forget the day I was sitting in the corner booth at Fox Fire Fixin's in Algonac, Michigan and met owners, Al and Diane Kodet. We exchanged contact information and within a couple of weeks, they invited me to start writing for the ThumbPrint News. For so many years now, I've gone through my days and weeks, and tried my best to come up with encouraging words, and finding stories that cause one to go from tears to laughter unexpectedly because everyone who knows me, knows that "laughter from tears is my favorite emotion!" (A quote from Steel Magnolias - one of my all time favorite movies). Over the years, I've received letters from people nearby, and a few from those several states away - every one of them filled with encouraging words - to me! I'm a ... View Post
Hasten the Day!
We had a little fun this past weekend at church, discussing John 20:6-7. Here's the scene... Mary Magdalene had come to the tomb of Jesus early in the morning while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb. She ran and told Simon Peter and John that she believed Jesus had been taken out of the tomb, and she didn't know where He was. So John and Simon Peter went to see what was going on, but when they got to the tomb, all they saw were the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth that had been on Jesus' head were not lying with the linen cloths, but were instead, folded up nicely in a place by themselves. Lots of ideas flew around the room. Who would rob a grave, and stop to neatly fold the linen cloth the body was wrapped in? A thief ... View Post
Stewarding Time (and breaths, too!)
A letter came yesterday from my bank informing me that I had written more checks, and made more debit transactions than I had money to cover. In a panic, I sat down at the kitchen table with a notebook, pencil, highlighter, and my checkbook, and painstakingly went over every single entry for the past year or more. It turns out, I have not recorded 99% of my transactions for a long, long time. I forgot to record almost every single one of my paychecks, and missed recording most of my debits and record the checks I'd written, so it finally caught up with me this month, and I am THOUSANDS of dollars in trouble, including FEES for bouncing checks. None of my utility bills were paid, so I will have my water, gas, internet, and electric shut off. They also want to repossess my car, and ... View Post