Are You My Mommy?

May 10th, 2015
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Thank goodness that mothers come in all shapes, sizes, ages and cultures!

There are all kinds of mothers, each healing and loving in their own way and trying to do what they think is best for their precious children.  Today we celebrate the many wondrous things our mothers do for us out of the goodness of their huge loving hearts.

ryan's plate

Everyone has some kind of a Mom: traditional, surrogate, birth mother, step mother and adopted mother.  No matter what the silly label, mothering a child is one of the most important jobs in the world.  I have loved every minute … Read More

5 Things Money Can’t Buy

May 5th, 2015
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Hi there Resilient Readers: I’ve been off the grid for a while and am happy to be back.  I needed to take a bit of break but I missed you A LOT and hope your life is currently full of some magical mixture of love, laughter and vibrant health. While I have been juggling some challenging issues affecting my family and friends, it has pushed me into having some spirited conversations and lots of quiet thought about what really makes life go ’round. I think it pretty much comes down to five things, and for me, the following five things… Read More

Balancing Our Busy Brain

March 30th, 2015
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Hey there! It’s Monday morning already! Wherever did the weekend go?  It’s not as if I didn’t make myself productive because I did.  It just amazes me the speed with which Saturday and Sunday seems to fly by. I did learn something new this weekend that I would love to share with you.  During my yoga class on Saturday morning, my teacher talked about how doing new things makes our brain smarter.  Okay maybe you already knew this but I didn’t so please indulge me a bit because I think this is really interesting. Now I’m not a scientist, and… Read More

An Irish Sense of Humor

March 17th, 2015
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I love a holiday just as much as anyone else but to me St. Patrick’s Day is not just a day to “green up” and drink a lot of booze. It’s a whole lot more. It’s also a day to celebrate my Irish heritage and the unique way the Irish laugh at life.  I take pride in knowing that the Irish have a rich and historic culture made up of a lot more than pub crawling.  We also are a people known for having a wicked sense of humor.  A bit rough and tumble you might say. Growing up in… Read More

Pajama Day

February 18th, 2015
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So many things to do and all day to do it. And the best part:  it all gets done while I’m still in my pj’s. Snow days are absolutely the best!! Yesterday the federal government was shut down, the schools were shut down, local buses were not running (at least not in the morning) and Metro was experiencing delays (what else is new!). Photo Courtesy of Reuters What’s a girl to do? Stay snuggled up at home.  Do work.  Check email.  Write responses.  Eat popcorn at 11 am. Cook a little. Go back to the trusty computer and do more… 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

Back To The Garden

November 7th, 2014
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My son and I recently spent a Sunday afternoon meandering around the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia and it reminded me once again of the importance of taking time to immerse yourself in the calming and healing beauty of nature. I was not particularly stressed out when we entered the spectacular gardens but after walking around among the themed gardens and gentle water fountains for about ten minutes, I found myself slowing down and suddenly stopping on the path to take a deep breath and truly look and listen to where I was at that moment.  We sat… 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