Snowy Surprise

January 24th, 2013
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I went to the kitchen window early this morning and expected to see the bare concrete of the sidewalk and instead saw snow covering the ground and all of the surrounding cars and trees.
I had heard some talk of snow coming to the Washington, DC area yesterday on the news but the forecasters are usually so far off the mark that I didn’t pay attention to their prediction. What do you know? The weather people were actually right this time.
So instead of opening the front door and walking outside in my bare feet to grab the newspaper off … Read More

A Year of Blessings

January 17th, 2013
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How Have You Been Blessed? I know we are in the middle of January, but I just saw this idea on a website called The Honest Company (www.honest.com) and I wanted to share it right away.  Hopefully, this idea is new for you too! Here’s the basic idea:  At the beginning of a new year, start writing down blessings that happen to you throughout the year and put them in a container.  On New Year’s Eve or Day 2014, you can empty out the jar and read all about the year of blessings that you had! The Honest Company’s blog… Read More

Revisiting Maurice Sendak

January 16th, 2013
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Maurice Sendak is known as an internationally renowned prize-winning children’s book author and illustrator but he also has a message for adults too. When children read his most famous book, “Where The Wild Things Are,” they run around and play as if they are monsters, just like the ones in Sendak’s book.  Spontaneously and instantly, children enter Sendak’s world with love and abandon. Adults may want to join the children in their play but their “adultness” sometimes holds them back.  “Oh, that’s a child’s book” or “I can’t play like that” or “I shouldn’t play like that” are some of… Read More

A Merry Christmas Message

December 25th, 2012
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Merry Christmas Dear Readers, May you and your loved ones have a very Merry Christmas! The holiday season may remind you of a special person who is no longer with you, just as I am reminded of my husband who died nine years ago.  Our lives have been forever changed and so have we. But there is always hope for a renewed future; a future that we can purposely rebuild so that we may move forward.  You are not alone. We bring our loved ones with us as we slowly figure out our new lives and as we do, we… Read More

It’s A Girl!

December 21st, 2012
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The daughter of a very good friend of mine gave birth early yesterday morning to a baby girl! I am very excited for the parents of this beautiful new baby and my friend and her husband who now are grandparents. It’s so magical to me that on Wednesday morning my friend was a mother and a wife (and lots of other great things too!) but by Thursday morning she had become a grandmother and met her first grandchild. You really never know what life has in store for you! Becoming a parent is the most fabulous adventure of a lifetime. … Read More

Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”

December 19th, 2012
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Cast of NBC’s “The Voice” singing a tribute to victims in Newtown, CT A good friend who tragically lost a loved one in the Newtown, CT mass shooting yesterday posted on her Facebook page this beautiful and haunting video of the coaches and artists from NBC’s hit show, The Voice, singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in a tribute to the 20 children and six adults who died in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary School. I think it is the simplicity of the song’s message that makes it so powerful.  Let the healing powers of the music fill your soul and… Read More

Newtown, Connecticut

December 15th, 2012
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Murdering a child is an unspeakable act. Yesterday’s horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT., which involved the shooting of 27 people, including 20 young children, leaves us asking questions about our culture and praying for the parents and the community at large. As a parent myself, I try to place myself in their situation, but I cannot begin to fathom the depth of pain and shock those parents are experiencing.  My heart goes out them and I wish we could take it all away. We must talk openly about this incident, as hard as it is,… Read More

Sentimental Christmas Stockings

December 13th, 2012
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Stockings Belonging to Daddy, Mommy & R ” . . . And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care;  In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. . .”From “Twas The Night Before Christmas” By Clement Clarke Moore These  are our sentimental Christmas stockings, hung on our fireplace every year, in hopes that Santa Claus will think we have been good and fill them with lots of treats. I know they are a bit on the tacky side but they represent a lot of good feelings and great memories. They don’t match each other or the living… Read More

Happy Birthday to My Irish Twin

December 6th, 2012
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Happy Birthday Sheila! Today is my sister Sheila’s birthday so for the next month we will be the same age. How can we be the same age for a month? We are Irish twins. I was born in January and she was born in December of the same year.  Busy parents, yes?  Irish twins are defined as a pair of siblings born within 12 to 16 months of each other. When we were young children, our mother would dress us alike as though we were twins and we have lots of pictures from holidays in the same dresses and coats. … Read More