A Whale of A Baby

October 5th, 2015
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cropped table scape

 Baby Shower Table Scape

Notice the whale as centerpiece

 

My Mom and I hosted a baby shower for my niece yesterday and it was healing in a fun way to pause with my other sisters and close relatives to celebrate the arrival of a new family member.

I think it’s always good news when a baby is on the way; beginnings are always exciting and so full of hope!

At the shower we had an advice jar where people wrote their tips on slips of paper for my helping my niece transition to motherhood.  Here are a few examples … Read More

The Glass Castle — Memoir

August 27th, 2015
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Author Jeannette Walls   I became aware of this amazing book in the same way that I learn about lots of good things: through my friends. I’m not sure how I missed this powerful story because The Glass Castle was published in 2005, received numerous awards and was a New York Times Bestseller for three years. But the important thing is that I did find out about it.  And once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. The Glass Castle is a revealing story that I came to think of as Resilience 101.  I say this because when I read… Read More

Beautiful Kindness

August 3rd, 2015
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    When you live by yourself as I do, you learn how to do a lot of things for yourself. It just becomes second nature. I don’t like to bug people to ask for help, so my first instinct is see if I can do it on my own. When my husband was alive he was not really handy around the house so I took over some of the outside chores and I also took over the bills as his illness took away much of his energy. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining; just explaining how a shifting… Read More

One Golden Birthday

June 25th, 2015
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Hi Resilient Readers! I truly believe that every day is a gift from God and that in each day there is some good, some ray of sunshine that we can cherish for its ability to warm us and reveal surprising acts of kindness, compassion and love.     For me, the goodness of today is that 25 years ago I became a Mom. God gave me and my husband the incredible gift of a wondrous baby boy and ever since his birth I have been on the adventure of a lifetime.  From the moment you were handed to me, I… Read More

David Letterman and Funny Kids

June 5th, 2015
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It’s Friday.  Fabulous, fantastic Friday. Yea!!!! I don’t know about you but by the end of the week I think we all deserve to find something that can make us laugh.  We were made to laugh.  It’s part of the human DNA.  Laughing is an immediate mood buster that instantly makes me feel whole lot better about what is going on in my neck of the woods. Did you know that laughter releases the endorphins in your body?  Endorphins (this word always makes me think of dolphins jumping out of the water) are the body’s natural feel-good chemicals and when … Read More

Ways of Encouragement

May 21st, 2015
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You’re having a day. Guess what?  So am I! Let’s join each other in encouragement. We know it’s hard.  It’s stressful and sometimes it’s even lonely and painful. And yet I know I don’t want to give up.  And I know you don’t want to either.  Because right around that corner or even the next time we try to go at a problem and process those feelings of frustration, there is the possibility that it could go away. Right? What is the purpose of always being in a position of trying to solve something?  Sometimes I’m not sure.  Sometimes, I… Read More

Comforting My Peeps

February 5th, 2015
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“We are each other’s harvest; We are each other’s business: we are each other’s magnitude and bond.” ~ Gwendolyn Brooks  Care giving is on my mind these days as my siblings and I offer additional support to our parents. Giving care to those who are ill, to those who are babies, to those who are elderly and to those who are recuperating is one of the most selfless and loving acts a person can do for another.  Yet it can also be challenging for you, as the caregiver, are balancing so many mental and physical needs. The obvious ones are… 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

Changing Up Holiday Rituals

November 24th, 2014
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My parents, some of my siblings and some of my in-laws flew to Ireland this past Saturday and will be spending Thanksgiving this year in different  country. It should fun and interesting and certainly different for them as well as the rest of my family for now we are changing up the places where we will go to celebrate Thanksgiving this year and who we will have a chance to see on the day.  I must say that given the fact that we are a large boisterous family, most of us do try to stay flexible about the different ways… Read More