Many Tales of Wonder and Woe

Tale of Wonder:

I hadn't been walking or exercising in probably a gazillion daze until finally...

My bud, Lillian, who is a total inspiration--always--about walking and taking time everyday for your health and wellbeing, got me an amazing Christmas gift/package. She got me a jawbone wristband to track my steps and sleep, as well as some cardio kick boxing classes!!! And somehow I even ended up taking that 5.5 mile walk to the beach IN THE SNOW! I'm eager to go again and the kickboxing is the total bomb. Love it. Sore.

Tale of Woe:

This little girl, who tries ever so hard to do everything right and be pleasing and acceptable in the sight of everyone (we are working on that whole people-pleaser thing)... was handed a couple of manilla folders from a classmate the last day of school before break. She was also given a large box of items people had purchased from her for a fundraiser and she would need to deliver. It was a Christmas Luncheon the last part of the day and of course everyone was eager to get out of there. Not a lot of focused thoughts.

So she made it home with items she could have quickly handed out to teachers and been done with it. But those things had to be given to them upon their return from the holidays two weeks later. The packets that a fellow student handed to her ended up in the garbage because they didn't need to complete them after all... however, one of the folders was NOT a homework packet. It was her flute music for the upcoming Hampton's Music Educators Association Festival. She unknowingly threw it away. [GASP] She didn't even know she was selected for HMEA because the student just handed it to her and didn't say who it was from (I guess). She needed to be practicing the music all during the break because its very difficult and stretches her playing abilities greatly (which I love)! But talk about a girl in panic mode all week. She felt so embarrassed about the music that her band teacher needed to replace and get her started on. She was terrorized with great anxiety that she will have to play before a judge to determine what chair she will get for the concert, because she only has 4 daze to learn the four pieces. There is wonder in this tale as well. We have practiced and practiced and she has learned this music very quickly and been expanding her abilities greatly, only in a matter of one week's time. She sure is a go getter!!

Tale of Wonder:

We got this room painted in two daze time.

Changed the green (which I did love but not together with the accent wall) to a soft cream.

It wasn't an easy job.

But we had about 10 college kids all coming to stay at our house for a few days so we had to kick it into high gear. Voila.

Caleigh really wanted to help paint but we left her to making the signs because this needed to be done fast and top notch.

Tale of Woe:

Nope. Actually my sweater WON the ugly sweater contest. hehe $8 but 3 of those dollars were what I put in. baaahaha

Tale of Wonder:

My girls have grown way taller than their mama.

Tale of Woe:

Nope. Only a Wonder of how great my friends are..

Tale of Wonder:

Milena is going to have a baby in July!! Yippee!!!!

Tale of Woe:

Nope. They are crazy but in a wondrous way. :-D

Tales (tails) of Wonder:

All the snow came and went and the temperatures have gone up. Noah is feeling better after being on Doxy for the past 2 weeks... 2 weeks more to go (blasted tick-borne illnesses).

Peppermint can fly!

Tale of Woe:

Its tricky out there and you never know which surface is just wet with the rain and which is actually a sheet of ice. I slippity-slippy-slid right onto my backside today. But I'm ok. I'm fine.

Happy 2014!!

Maybe this is the Crash

I feel like I've hit that wall I had expected to hit last  Monday after the show was over. I never really hit it then, because I had too many things I needed to handle before crashing. Now that Nate has made it to Peru and feeling good about his adventures, I can relax. It no longer requires my full attention and mental energy. He'll be away for 3 months and I'm not a big time worrier. Now that Jennah has come to the end of her ADRENALINE week and had an amazing time away at the ORU college weekend, I can rest my mind about that... and of course, take ANOTHER trip to the airport to pick her up this evening. I just "love" giving up those 5 hours of my day over and over again. (Third time to the airport in the past 10 daze. Thankfully it wasn't fifth time in the past 2 weeks, which it easily could have been, but I'm not the only one who can drive and pick up from the airport).

So, my eyes hurt today. Its been difficult to sleep well. I have this dull headache almost every day. My neck hurts. My hand still hurts from moving that heavy couch last week. The hubby is snoring a lot. There is so much going on with the kiddos--good stuff mostly, but it keeps my brain on overload. As of this past week, I have a friend on my mind who is really hurting... well actually more than one hurting friend that has been on my mind, and yet, at this particular time I have such little energy to muster in order to offer any real support. One friend in particular is in a lot of trouble with depression and it worries me quite a bit. Plus its beyond me to even know how to best be a support for this kind of mental state. I cannot fix people's problems. I don't need take on this burden that says its up to me to make it all better. Karenkool to save the day. Dah da da daaaah. However, I can love them whether their situation gets better or not. Maybe that's whats needed. Someone who will love and care for them even if nothing changes in their mental state. Usually I get frustrated or annoyed when a person can't snap out of it or immediately and be encouraged by my efforts to lift them up. I want to be the one to make it all better so I can feel so very good about myself. Anyone? Can you relate?

Actually though, I get nervous at times like these, when I truly care about a persons wellbeing and yet I am so exhausted and spent, that if I reach out with what I do have in my reserves, I just know that more is going to be expected from me. It may very well be more than what I have to offer. Maybe I am the only one expecting it from myself... to be able to give more or do more. Its like a catch twenty-two...  I want to give, but I know what is needed is way beyond me. And what if what I offer is all wrong and only makes things worse?

Why did Caleigh wake me up from my nap to ask if she could have some friends over. I really needed it. I think I will go take some emergen-C just to be sure this isn't my body, in its spent condition, fighting some virus.

People Are Interesting

I am fascinated by people. Its not anything I do on purpose, but I have this natural-born interest for understanding what makes people tick. The ins and outs of a person's personality intrigues me. I guess I still could go back to school for a degree in psychology and start a new career. Why not?! Because I'm always afraid that would take all the fun out of it... doing it for money. Oh the pressure.

We've had our second get-together with two other couples (who are dear friends) where we are deliberately considering ways to better our marriages. We have dinner and laughs together;  we watch a selected video teaching on marriage and communication; we share some thoughts together and then we have more laughs and food. I feel so good about these nights. It just feels right.

BJ (aka Terry) spends time finding a video selection that may be good for all of us to view, and I sometimes sit in on what he's previewing. Earlier this week he had a counseling session with a couple he's marrying in May and I sat in on some of that video as well. I just love this stuff about our different personalities and what makes us the way we are and how we respond to one another. There are so many variations and mixes of passions and values and modes of operation to make up who we are. It feels super good to discover our own make-up. It even better to be understood for who we are. At least, that's what I think.

My favorite piece of what Gary Smalley has to say about relationships is about the key that opens the door--the door where you enter into the deeper levels of fellowship. HONOR! Honor is the key. To have high respect, to esteem, to defer to, appreciate, value, cherish, adore. When honor is missing from a relationship, well then, virtually nothing else will go well. It is extremely difficult to honor a person who has caused a lot of pain and who doesn't hold any honor for the relationship; that goes for our friendships, our children, our work relationships, etc. But being joined together with someone, on any of these relational levels, who wants to have a mutual honoring of one another is an amazing thing. If our children could understand this principal--for ALL of their relationships--they could avoid a lot of drama and baggage in their lives, yes?

Couple together the value of honor with the value of understanding one another's personalities and BAM! We are on the road to having a genuinely fulfilling relationship. Its not about seeing things the same way, but rather respecting one another in our differences. There was even the idea of being able to make some kind of "rules" for relationships based on our personalities and the way we are wired; the idea being to communicate more successfully. That's for another post.

Our society has lost its ability to honor one another somewhere along the way. So, I truly cherish the relationships I am blessed with, that have the ability to relate on deeper levels, and hold the friendships in high esteem. It means the world when friends are unwilling to dishonor a relationship when there is some personal conflict; they'd rather believe that an adjustment can be made and some understanding gained. Working out conflict is difficult, especially with friends, but so rewarding. It in the conflict where honor is displayed for what it really is: LOVE.

Winter Youth Retreat 2013 & Relationships

I've been going on the youth ski trips ever since Terry started planning them with the CBC youth group in 2006. I really enjoy skiing and I can safely say that I enjoy hanging with teenagers... as long as they don't treat me like I am intruding on all their fun. Our youth group thinks I'm pretty cool and fun (which I am) so I enjoy being with them... for a limited amount of time anyway. haha.

Each year, starting with the first trip, I've gone with a "little" bit of kicking and screaming (on the inside) because it was usually a painful breaking down of some level of depression, I suppose. But every time I would come home feeling as though I truly enjoyed the time spent away with the kids. But I won't lie, its also always been tough for me to get into the idea of going. This year I was ready--mentally. I think my little break-through made all the difference. There was no real kicking and screaming on the inside. I was just basically content and fine with the whole thing. I sure wish I knew what that was all about and how to turn the switch on and off myself. We had a good time. I drove the car separate from the bus... no one rode with me, because they all wanted to be together on the bus. I didn't mind being alone. I had some great jams playing all the way up and back. It was a good thing for me.

So what's with me?

Well, last night we had some close friends over for our first marriage enrichment series. We watched a Gary Smalley video and had some interesting dialogue. That's when it clicked for me. I am not satisfied in my everyday life unless I'm relating on a deeper level in my relationships. I can only stay on that safe, surface-y level for so long before I want to have more meaningful heart-to-hearts. Those are risks I am almost always willing to take. Some people are not like that. Some people are the opposite and feel very uncomfortable going to a deeper level. Its not safe! There are things behind those closed doors that we don't always want to allow anyone else to see. But I've always wanted to be known on a deeper level. Its freedom for me. I'm that "open book" type as you've seen on my blog.

So... I've been shut down for a while. Maybe I've offered an occasional open book glance, but mostly I've been shut down and locked up regarding those the deeper parts of myself, even to myself. I guess it was easier to cope. (I can tell you that I've really only been on lockdown when struggling with a distain or dislike of who I am, but that's for another post). My shut-down was most likely based on a particular deeper need or set of needs that went unmet or unnoticed and un-communicated for a while. Or maybe I was hurt by someone who is important to me and its taken a while to recover. Maybe all of the above. One time I became close to a friend who, after some time getting to know one another, wanted to stay deep in the relationship all the time. It was suffocating. I almost died. That's where co-dependence will lead. But God rescued me from those depths and helped me recover who I truly was. Honestly, that recovery took years, and since then I've become super cautious about going deeper in relationships. But who am I... really? I'm a person who NEEDS to relate to others both on a surface level and also on a deeper level. Not having the depth aspect with others for so long has left an unmet need in me which has brought sadness and resentment and anger. Although I definitely enjoy hanging around on the surface level with my friends, having fun and being playful--goofing around is my specialty--I don't like to stay on the surface all the time, either. If I can't share deeper levels with those closest to me, I feel all out of sorts and stifled because I'm not being my true self. I need both.

I have an amazing group of friends that bring such laughter and good times... but only a few of those friends want the relationships to go to a deeper level of sharing. There have been lots of needs, lots of challenging times in each one of our lives. We've all needed one another for support and care. We've all watched each other, from a distance, struggle through majorly challenging things. It kills me to do that. My heart screams out. I want to be there, up close and personal. But there's no opening. So I pray. When it comes to having heart-to-hearts, most opt to retreat into themselves and into their own private world during difficult times. I understand that about others, but I tend to do the opposite. I look for people to be in my life during crisis. I need people in my life who care to know about the more important things about me, who are curious about the deeper things of my heart, who are willing to love me even when they find out things about me which aren't so wonderful. Even more importantly, I need people in my life who want to trust me with their deeper thoughts and their inner life. I long for those friends who won't disappear every time they have a crisis, but will at some point begin to share it, because they value the friendship and believe that I honor and care for them. Thank God for the ones he has put in my life who are like me in this way.

The close friends I've had in my life for years, who only want to be around when things are going fine for them, and then disappear when they are struggling... they hurt my heart. I guess I don't have the emotional stamina to go in and out of the those relationships and realizing the damage its done to me, I've backed away. It hurts to back away. It hurts to be pushed away. But steering clear seems to be the only way I can maintain my own sanity.

I'm a risk-taker! But I'm not so carefree when it comes to people. I care deeply and maybe a little too much. I think its a tumultuous combination. Oh my soul. haha

Birthday Miscellany

Last year I turned 44 and for some reason I kept thinking I was 45 all year long. I have enough other birthday's and ages to remember all year long... Do I have to remember mine, too. At least I'm in the ball park. But I think I'll redo 44, since I missed it last year.

It was a jam packed weekend. I don't even know how that happened. The real birthdate is was the 28th which is a Friday. Yea... go ahead and write that in your calendar for next year. ;-) But on Thursday my GF who was in the hospital fighting infection all week after having surgery a week earlier, was finally going to be released from her "hospital prison" so I went with a friend to pick her up from the hospital and got home late.

No she did not leave in her hospital gown. This picture wasn't actually from the release day. I forgot to take one of those.

When we got back home I couldn't really get to sleep right away and was up reading when my college girl called to sing me happy birthday, right at midnight. She's so funny. She was already in bed, but stayed up for the special moment in time to call me. She's so sweet and funny.

So Friday was a regular day. While everyone was in school and at work, I made potato soup for Nicki's gang, and later had a rehearsal for this 1850s wedding reenactment I was going to be in on Saturday. (more on that in a few). But Friday night we were heading out to the Public House with friends for some German Oktoberfest entertainment. We had fun, ate too much food. I won a yodeling contest. $100 gift certificate.

Yay, Pat was able to join us finally! Raul is just crazy!!

So is Cristina. Crazy Chileans who are really Americans.

Here are my friends giving us great entertainment all night.

This was make an ugly face day for me.

Buffalo wings.

My time is running out now that I'm ancient.

This couple I did not know but they were more than happy to have a picture.
They were a little upset about coming in second for the costume contest.

This is my failed attempt to do a pull-up. I was shocked!!
Raul helped me do three and the next day I had a major kink in my neck.
Ridiculous.

On Saturday, I was in this wedding reenactment for a Fair going on at the Southampton Historical Museum. It was awesome. I got to play a grumpy spinster sister of the groom. My character's name was named Mehetabel, emphasis on the 'het'. The characters were true and story was real, taken from Southampton history. For some reason it really impacted me to be a part of it, plus I loved my character. However, she gave me a headache from her scowling. LOL.

Saturday evening BJ invited our friends over for some amazing pot roast. All the food was delish. I failed to take out the camera, but the party really started kicking when we began doing some Native American chants and got out all the Musikgarten instruments. It definitely was a head throbber.

But the night wasn't over at that point. It was yet only beginning. We went out to Page's in Sag Harbor at 10 pm to see the Raffa Show. (Such party animals). We left a bit wide-eyed. I don't even want to explain. But it was still all tons of fun and memorable because its always fun to be together with friends.

Sunday continued to be full. Church. I had a first rehearsal for an upcoming show in November. Caleigh gave me a back, neck, and foot massage (she's good for a 10 year old, holy moley) and she painted my toe nails. Terry made an amazing birthday dinner and scrumptious apple pie for the family to celebrate together and that was so nice. We missed having Anika sitting with us, but everyone else was here. I felt honored over and over again. 

There is a lot of love that surrounds my life. How blessed am I?! Because I was feeling kind of blue this morning, like when the show is over [sniff sniff] I thought I would blog about it, which always does the trick. Remembering all the fun we had and telling everyone about it... 

The Summer Flew By

Our summer starts late. The kids don't really get out of school until the 3rd week of June and the weather isn't always hot enough for the beach until July anyway. Even the lifeguards don't start at the beach until July 1st. and then, all too quickly, its over. Waaaahhhh!


I certainly didn't get enough beach time. I wanted to go several times and my 10 year old never really wanted to go. I could have easily said, "Too bad, that's what we are doing today". But if and when we did go, I knew all she was going to do is bother me the entire time we were there. "Mom, come with me crabbing." "Mom, come in the water with me." Mom, can I go to the ice cream truck?" "Mom, can we go now?" When I go to the beach I look forward to relaxing with a book, maybe catching a few winks, and jumping in the water only if I'm hot. I don't prefer to be the entertainment for my youngest child. L A Z Y !!!

Such an innocent face. She knows exactly what she's doing!!!

Anyway, I'm glad they got on the bus this morning. I can't believe its down to 3 Hochstedlers at the school. WOW! It was only 2009 where I had all six in the same building for their education. How does that happen? And no, I didn't take a picture of them this morning before they left for the bus, but I wished I had. They were so cute.

So my oldest daughter is doing her college thing. She was not happy at all, after the first week. :-( She said she the food was awful and making her sick, even the salad and she couldn't eat. Also, it was boring. And the boys were disgusting and incredibly rude (she has a boyfriend so she's only looking for friendliness) and she was very unhappy with her "inconsiderate" roommate. Ruh roh. Someone definitely needed more sleep and better food for the first off. I know she misses her Beau terribly and that wasn't helping at all. But she did say she really liked her classes and one teacher especially and she had biked to the beach a couple of times. She's going on her second week and I am hoping things will get better for her... I really have stayed away from it, because my tendency is to say "Get over it! And change your perspective!" I don't like to listen to complaints, especially if the person is leading to a quick solution that says, "This isn't going to work." I say SO MAKE IT WORK! Its all part of life and growing up. But in spite of trying not to come to the rescue, I sent a large package with all kids of food she can make in her room. And I have been praying and reading scriptures and praying scriptures for her, and losing some sleep, and trying not to feel down about it. I do believe this is a very important step for her and she needs to find the deeper meaning in it all. Breaking free from the comfort zone is really hard sometimes. I didn't realize how hard it would be for her.

In other news nonpolitical... Today, Noah goes back to the vet because his eye should be better and its still not completely better. I'm not all that concerned but dang, I hate doing these appointments.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the city to support my dear friend, Nicki, who has a big surgery coming up next week. Tomorrow its the battery of pre-op tests (at my old stomping grounds--Memorial Sloan Kettering). We want more of those results we received with Lizzy--the "tumor is BENIGN" results. And of course, the recovery from a total hysterectomy can be a great challenge, so please help me pray for my friend. I'll be asking for prayers again, later in the fall, as she will need another surgery. God's grace. God's peace. And His healing power.

Large Family Life... or Life in a Large Family

I grew up in a family of eight. My husband grew up in a family of seven. We now have our own family of eight. Some of our siblings have large families as well. Big families are something I know pretty well. It doesn't mean I understand it completely, but I do kind of know some things. I don't think that small families can understand the large family dynamic at all. However, parents can usually remember what their own family was like when it was smaller... you know, before the additional children came along.

I love my life (mostly). My kids are great (the majority of the time). My husband is one of the very best of the best (but his snoring has been keeping me awake lately). We are enjoying the blessings that come from the Lord. Wonderful parents. Successful careers. Happy children, who are growing into fine adults and finding their way. We've had our serious ups and downs in the parenting arena as well as the marriage and even in the relationships of the extended family. Its life. Sometimes it sucks. Mostly it has been good for us.

Truth is, we, as parents, don't know for sure how things are going to work out for our children. Some children are extremely rebellious or challenging in their youth and once they get over fools hill, they become lovely, successful adults... or maybe they struggle all their lives with baggage because of their foolishness. Other children find success in their education and their careers, their families, their spiritual walk. Or maybe success in one and failure in another. Some have addictive behaviors that sabotage every success. We just don't know what roads they will take as they walk out their journeys. We try to steer them in the right direction or what we think will be a good path for them, but the choice is always theirs. Our choices are our own. We don't really have any control over another person's choices or the outcomes.

We can choose to stay in a destructive relationship too long or find help out of it and learn the tools to having healthy relationships. We can choose, when we've been hurt, to allow unforgiveness to remain in our hearts until a root of bitterness has grown, or we can surrender ourselves to God and allow Him to heal our wounds.

I've been hurt along the way. I've hurt others. Everyone has. Family's have hurts and family members hurt one another. Families can have healthy characteristics and yet also have crippling dysfunction. I am thankful to have learned during my adult years and from my own failures what it means to have healthy relationships. I'm still learning, of course, and I choose to and want to continue learning. I would want that to be my legacy, that my children would have healthy relationships with healthy people. I don't mean perfect when I say healthy. No one is perfect. To me, healthy is someone who is genuine and honest, who will admit their own needs, who is willing to admit wrongs, and who wants to respectfully work out differences. In that context, I believe healthy is someone who loves the other person more than they love their own opinion, but also stays true to themselves.

It can be a process for an individual to learn what healthy relationships are supposed to look like. But it is possible to learn, to become free, to develop and maintain healthy and loving relationships. "The need to control and manipulate others can disappear as we learn to trust those who are trustworthy. It is possible to mend--to become more loving, intimate, and supportive. We have the choice of communicating with our family in a way which is safe for us and respectful of them. As we trust the guidance of the Lord we can come to believe in our own capabilities and gradually experience peace, strength and spiritual grown in our daily lives." ~excerpt from The Twelve Promises of Co-dependents Anonymous (slightly reworded)

I'm so thankful to have discovered the freedom to be myself and have healthy relationships in all my interactions (mostly--haha). CoDA provided me with a lot of tools, ones in which I wasn't able to find in my church life or anywhere else, for that matter. If you find that you need help in your relationships, check out CoDA.  You can read about some unhealthy patterns, useful for a little self-evaluation. And find a meeting near you by clicking here.

Yah! It's About Time I Did Something...

I find it slightly baffling and very disconcerting that certain individuals actually think I DON'T DO ANYTHING around here. How do I give this impression? How do they come up with their perception of me? And Yes. You could say I've been a little annoyed and bothered since yesterday based on the comment I received from my firstborn, which connected in my mind with another comment I had received from a friend a few weeks ago and also one from a few months ago. My brain has a habit of connecting dots, even when the separate things shouldn't be connected. And sometimes those connections work together to bring me down... to convict me of "a crime".

A few weeks ago we had friends over for dinner. One of the friends had his mouth watering over a meal we were eating when he popped in to drop off a kid for youth group. We invited them to join us to eat but they had food waiting at home. So we had them come another time for that particular meal, since it seemed especially delectable. Terry made the meal when they came to eat (because he usually cooks on the weekends). Come to find out, this particular friend was under some false impression that Terry does ALL the cooking and I never do it. I, in fact, had made the meal the first time when he walked in and was drooling. I understand and have joked many times about the fact that Terry gets all the credit for the delicious food that we make for parties, even though we are equal in our cooking expertise. We both can make all the same food, but because he cooks on the weekends and that usually when we have parties, everyone thinks I don't know how to cook. I HAVE A FREAKIN ARMY TO COOK FOR EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK!!!! Do they REALLY think I never cook??

Fine. Whatever. I doesn't matter if people realize that I cook, too... but it was the one little line of judgment that got me. "I was askin' my wife, 'How can she make Terry cook like that after working all day. Dang. That don't seem right.'" Yah. I sit around all day doing nothing and then I make my husband cook and clean and do all the work around the house and yard. I just blog and FB all day and sleep in late. It was a few months earlier that I had probably made a comment on FB that I had some much to do that I didn't know where to start and that I was off to work. The question came back, "You work?"

Grrrrrr. I DO in fact work!!! Sometimes I am actually juggling several jobs at once, plus I'm cooking and cleaning and driving kids everywhere and taking care of the bills and dentist visits and doctor visits and vet visits and DMV visits and picking up the mail and planning graduation parties and company coming and taking pictures both for pay and for free, and, and... Maybe I'm just so efficient at what I do that I have the extra time to also blog and FB.

Yesterday, I was looking for ways to lighten the extensive list of projects all needing attention this month. I had made a long list of things and posted it on the frig so that all able bodies could understand that a lot of work needs to be done and it would be nice to have everyone's help. The ten trees Terry ordered arrived two daze ago and needed to be planted. So I planted them yesterday. Nate and Sammy were both home, not really doing anything but maybe sleeping. And then they were coming and going (mainly for breakfast or lunch or a trip to the beach or golfing). At one point Sammy came out to see what I was doing, Nate watched from the driveway, but neither of them offered to help. They just went on their way. LOSERS!!! I didn't ask for their help either. It was fine. I was handling it fine on my own. When Luke got home from work, I told him I planted 10 trees today by myself. He said, "Well, its good you did something around here." WHA????!!!! He could have gotten a fine b-slap for that comment. But I let it go. He's fresh sometimes when he's tired, and I really didn't feel like getting into a knock down drag out over it. He always wins those anyway.

It just hurts me to constantly do stuff that goes so completely unnoticed by the people close to me. And then to be judged as if I don't do ANYTHING! Just drive in the knife and then twist it a little to the right and then to the left. I don't do things to be noticed, but I do want the things I do not to go unnoticed and unappreciated either. I especially don't want others to get the credit for something I've done if I'm going to be criticized in the back of a persons mind unfairly. But alas, life's not fair. These things happen. And sometimes people are going to hurt my feelings even if they don't mean to. But one thing I'm not going to do is become driven in order to gain another person's approval. They don't have to approve and they don't have to admire me or my labor if they choose not to. Even though its unfair, one day all will be revealed and my efforts in this life are already recognized by the one who really matters in the end. He loves me no matter what. He loves me even when I fail. He sees all that I do and nothing goes unnoticed by Him.

May Mommy Madness

For me it happens in May, not in March. Er... well maybe the madness can be attributed to both months. The calendar goes from 0 - 60 in about 5 seconds. And if you want to change something on me, there is a good chance that I will change it on my computer calendar and never get to sync with my phone until I've missed the change completely. (I know all about iCloud but I'm sharing my itunes account with 5 others in the house, so no thank you).

This weekend was great. I went to a woman's conference called Among Friends, hosted by Kathy Trocolli, a native Long Islander. She, along with Ellie Lafero and Donna VanLiere, were THE hilarious and ever so entertaining trio. And I do believe they felt quite comfortable to be back in NY, where they could use their wit and quips readily and have the audience right there with them erupting in laughter, applause and tears. KT's piano player was phenomenal, also.

I may or may not have been elbowed in the gut a few too many times by one of the three others who attended with me... always 10 seconds late on the jokes and 50 times too loud with the response. And... loved to tell the rest of us something that was said during one of the sessions, as if we weren't even there. Gaaahhh!

We also went out to the Blacksmith Tavern after the Friday night session to hear a live band playing 70s and 80s music. They were awesome. Ahh good times.

Mother's Day was great... although I ended up cleaning up the kitchen after the lovely breakfast made for me, running around like crazy in the morning to get kids where they needed to be for work, appropriate homes and then on to church, coming home to vacuum the enormous amount of dirt tracked in by the boyz working out in the yard for me, unloading and loading the dishwasher twice in one day and vacuuming an enormous amount of dirt tacked in again when I got home from a lovely time out for dinner. Sheesh! I had mixed emotions about whether I was really pampered or not.

Can you read what's written in the sand?

Life is good, just a little crazy, trying to squeeze everything in and be successful and responsible with the commitments.