Is there such a thing as over-learning? Lately, my brain has been a learning machine. Hope it counts as exercise. 1) During my upper GI the other day, I was given fizzy stuff to drink followed by, "Don't burp. Swallow the burp back down." I learned that I should've practiced burp swallowing before the test began. 2) A way to J's daughter's heart is to allow her to paint his toenails. (I think he forgot to take it off this morning so I sure hope he doesn't have to take off his socks while at work.) 3) Almond milk is addicting! 4) I'm in awe of Jotta's talent. God definitely has given him a gift.  5) After going through the artwork and homeschooling work that my daughters did when they were little, I feel like I really DID help them to reach for their passions and creativity. 6) Even though it looks like surgery is in the near future for me, I'm actually anxious to finally get rid of the chest pains and other symptoms that I've de...

Matthew 11:30 The Message (MSG)   28-30 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Bolded by me.) I'm mainly talking to myself here but if you want to keep reading, I could sure use the company! There has been more "heavy" moments than "light". But I can see that there is a pattern here. In the midst of the "heavy", I have failed to look for the "light". A few weeks ago, J's stepmom passed away. In spite of it being a difficult one, there were a few moments of lightening up. One, I don't usually view the body in the casket. I would much rather remember the person before they passed away....

"No one has ever loved me the way that you love me. With you by my side, my whole world is complete." I listened as J spoke those words to me, tears filling my eyes. I understood what he was saying because I FELT it too. The last few months have been hard to put into words. Yet, he's been by my side, every step of the way. With every test and doctor's appointment, he's been there to hold my hand and whisper words of reassurance. Although I feel his love, I feel a sense of guilt to be so very blessed. You see, two weeks ago, two people close to us, lost their spouses. The thought that resonated in my head as I wrapped my mind around their loss was that here I am feeling, "lost" while they are living it out loud. My "lost" is temporary, yet their "loss" is so much more. As articulate as I can often be, I couldn't find the right words to bring them comfort. So, I decided to focus on their lives while they lived and not their ...

My daughters were in some ways, atypical from most kids when they were growing up. We wanted them to be kids and not allow society to grow them up quickly. We placed limits on what they watched on tv and how often they played video games and encouraged them to use their creative minds. They read, created, played. When they were outside, they found adventures waiting for them. They climbed trees, played in the mud, wrote stories, made cookies and used their imaginations. What made their adventures that much greater was their friendship. I still remind them to this day, "Your best friend will always be the one that has stuck by you from the very beginning and that friend is your sister". When it was time for them to make friends on their own, I worried how it would affect them. Would they find friends that appreciated their loving spirits and their quirky personalities? Would their friends really "get" their jokes? How about their fears? Would their friends reach ou...

This is a blog post that almost wasn't. You know the one where you think, "No one will relate to this"? But, then I realized that by keeping this to myself, I may be preventing someone from reading what may need to be shared. When I was a kid, I loved reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books by Betty Macdonald. She had cures for just about everything. For the kids that whined or hated getting up for school or hated cleaning their ears, she always seemed to have the right substance to change their outlook. In one story, Patsy Brown refuses to take baths so Mrs. Piggle Wiggle tells her parents to let the dirt accumulate and when it does, to plant radish seeds on Patsy's skin. Before long, Patsy has radish plants growing all over her. (I know, weird concept.) If I were a character in Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's life, I would be the one with "Don't Care-itis". It's the "itis" where after every thought, it's followed with an "I don't car...

8 Seconds., My life ended with a period and then, began again, with a comma. 8 seconds has left a huge impact on me. In 8 seconds, I died. My heart stopped. Every function ceased. If my life was a sentence, there wasn’t a comma but a period at the end. My life has always been filled with the unexpected. I wouldn’t know how to live it any other way. I was admitted into the hospital on 1/27/12 due to chest pains for over 2 weeks. The pain and other symptoms brought me there with the hopes of a diagnosis. In an effort to get rid of the chest pains, I was given morphine in my IV while the medical technician was performing an EKG. I heard the technician ask me to put my arm down as it was propped up on a pillow. I looked at my arm but had no control over it. That was all I can remember before I was gone. The heart has 3 “internal” pacemakers. When one ceases to function, another kicks in and when that one ceases, the third one acts as a backup. It is uncommon for all three “...

Thanks for such great questions! Rae  asked: Have you had any eye openers in your relationship with J?   Yes, but nothing I wasn't already prepared for. No matter what color J's skin is, he and I couldn't be more of a matching pair.  Sure, there are some differences between us that can be considered cultural but the majority of differences have nothing to do with culture. The other night, we were lying in bed and I said to J, "Babe, did you know I'm black?" He totally gasped and said, "Now you tell me! I had no idea because I'm colored blind. I thought you were green!" There will always be barriers in place being in an interracial marriage but love comes in all colors and racial ignorance isn't worth stressing over. I'm praying that your grandkids will grow up loved and proud of who they are, not dealing with stupidity in the form of racism. Adam   asked: What was your worst experience in school?   Unfortunately, the first thing ...