Having Fun

I Heart Chocolate

February 14th, 2015
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Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope love and romance totally fill your day!

For those whose sweetheart is no longer with them, I send you hugs and hope that great memories of your time together may warm or mend your precious heart.

For myself, no romance or flowers are in sight today (maybe next year!), so I intend to have a good time and in that spirit, this post falls into the category of laughing at life, enjoying what I have and focusing on something else associated with Valentine’s Day: chocolate!

coco hearts

Chocolate is healing?  Check.

Chocolate is therapeutic? Check.

Chocolate makes … Read More

Laughing at Rush Hour

January 5th, 2015
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I am thinking, and yes, a bit envious, of one of my good friends this morning who is going to a coffee shop she passes every day on her way to work.  She never has time to go into this coffee shop because she is a punctual person and if she stopped for coffee then she would be late arriving at her office. But still every day as a member of the rush hour, she breezes by the coffee shop, and dreams of what it  represents: a lifestyle of unscheduled freedom. And today she’s going to check that coffee shop… Read More

Kick It Up For Christmas

December 22nd, 2014
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Hey there Resilient Readers: It’s the Monday of Christmas week and today I am going in an entirely different direction; one that is fun and healing and in tune with the holiday spirit.  It’s a post that I hope makes you smile and perhaps reminisce about your own unfulfilled but fond dreams. I have a saying that life is about finding your music and dancing to it.  Dancing has always been something that comes natural to me and something that I love to do.  In one of my former lives, I took dancing lessons for years as a child and… Read More

A Cheeky Children’s Christmas Pageant

December 8th, 2014
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Many, many years ago, when the grandchildren in our family were actually children, my Mom and Dad would let them go wild in their linen closet and take any of the sheets, towels, bedspreads and table cloths they wanted to create costumes and then put on a home production of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. For sure, it was quite a menagerie of costumes for shepherds, animals, Mary the mother of Jesus. Joseph the carpenter and Mary’s husband and of course, the youngest, no matter whether he or she was a baby or not, got to play the… Read More

She’s Come Undone — Fantastic Fiction

November 17th, 2014
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I am always on the lookout for books about how people deal with adversity and in “She’s Come Undone,” the incredible writer Wally Lamb introduces readers to a resilient and unforgettable character by the name of Dolores Price. This is one of those books that I have heard friends enthusiastically talk about for a long time and I have always intended to read it.  Well, I finally took the time to read it for myself and “She’s Come Undone” is truly a great read! This is a story of love and hope and the importance of friendship in dealing with… Read More

Being Brave

November 14th, 2014
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When I am about to deal with a potentially stressful situation like one happening this weekend, I start thinking about it before it even happens. Does that happen to you?  What’s up with that? Wellllll, since I can’t avoid this particular situation, it’s possible that it’s about me thinking it’s a good idea to get ready for it by putting on some so-called protective armor in case things go South quickly and I need to deflect what’s being said and not take it to heart.  As always, I remind myself over and over to stay open to the possibilities of… Read More

The Infectious Laughter of Tom Magliozzi

November 5th, 2014
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Everybody needs a good laugh and I know I could always get one every Saturday morning when I turned my radio on to NPR’s award-winning program, “Car Talk.” You might think it’s unusual for a woman to be listening to a program where two guys talk for about an hour about cars and their problems.  But for me, “Car Talk” was pure entertainment.  Oh my goodness, did they know how to have a good time! Tom and Ray understood the power of humor, that the ability to laugh at life and yourself is a tremendous resource for binding people together… Read More

Five Lessons From the Marvelous Mindy Kaling

October 24th, 2014
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Dear Resilient Readers, I write a lot about the need to rebuild or recreate our lives after experiencing a loss or traumatic life event because it can be frightening and something people would rather not discuss.  In hopes of helping others, I have written about what worked for me but I also try to pass along helpful anecdotes from people who have worked hard to put themselves on that same healing path. I know for myself that the secret to finding a new way to live my life after my husband died was in taking each day, and sometimes each… Read More

Be Bold Today

October 20th, 2014
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Monday. I know Mondays can be painful. Today was one of those Monday mornings when I turned and looked at the alarm clock and just cursed it something nasty because I wasn’t  ready to get up and go.  Today I have an early appointment and needed to get out of bed to start my morning routine earlier than usual so maybe that’s why I’m feeling a bit cranky but still, time is precious and I am committed to making this a productive day. For no day is a day that should be hurried along.  Monday needs to roll out at… Read More