December wrap-up ~ big goals for 2012

I accomplished quite a LOT in 2011.  When I look at the list it's pretty amazing, at least for me...

. . .one of my biggest goals for this coming year is to get stronger physically so that I can enjoy my family and "travel" more [especially with hubby].  I have big plans over the next few years to see some places and do some things ~ a few are things that I wouldn't normally do ~ but I need a stronger body in order to truly enjoy those activities. [DC was a BIG eye opener of how much I need to pace myself though, and it's all a delicate balance, with my disease...] ~ Anyway, to help me accomplish my goals I will reinstate a previously successful plan, approved by numerous docs in the past... Elliptical, healthy eating, fluids, rest ~ easy you say?  Yeah, it SHOULD be ~ right? ;-)

To help with this goal hubby bought me a "bodymedia" armband sensor yesterday.  It'll track my steps and activity through the day, and make suggestions to encourage me to be active, which I will do at a proper level for me [I even learned how to use my Wii Fit sometimes from a chair], and showing me some of the progress I'm making.  Here's hoping.!!

Thanks, Giving

I am thankful for so much in my life ~ family, home, safety, health for those I love... I am truly blessed.

It seems less than enough to simply count my blessings ~ but the act of doing so is a act that reminds me of all I hold so dear.  So as the song says: "Because I have been given much, I too must give..." [LDS Hymns #219]

A GRAND Princess

Our new little granddaughter was born earlier this month ~  she is perfect!

Plus she has RED HAIR.  I always wanted a red head when I was having kids ~ how sweet of God to send me a grandchild with beautiful red hair.

magical moments...

...yesterday was our Princess Bride's baby shower [does that mean she'll morph into a queen bee, now? ;-) ]  It's hard to believe that 3+ years have flown by since her wedding day...

I think everyone that was there had a lot of fun, but me ~ I especially enjoyed watching my lovely daughter coo over the new blankets, clothes, and other cute and personal items her baby will use in the first few months of her life.  Our granddaughter is due in just a few weeks and we anxiously await her arrival [certainly my attitude can't be called "patience", ha ha].  We can't wait to meet her... I am looking forward to watching our daughter grow into her roll as mother, and of course cuddling a new little angel, straight from God's arms.

I remember my own mother telling me there was nothing better than seeing your children succeed in life.  She was NEVER more right.

Son2 is fully on his own as well ~ exploring the world, and making his own way.  He's got a girlfriend and of course a rent payment to manage... Like everyone else he also juggles car repairs and grocery shopping... Welcome to the real world, right?  Are we ALL in a hurry to get to adulthood and then find out being young wasn't all THAT bad...? ha ha  Son2 seems to enjoy his freedom though, so that is good.   A bit harder for mom to see him fly, being the last one.

Son1 and Sweetee [his beautiful Redhead] are doing great ~ and full throttle in the middle of his Navy training.  The Nuclear field is TOUGH though!  Lots of competition and so much studying I am sure MY head would spin off and go crashing to the ground... if I had to do what he accomplishes each week.  Sweetee is the consummate Navy wife, keeping the home fires lit and burning for her sailor...  [They will soon celebrate 4 years of wedded bliss ~ really??? How do these years fly by so fast?]

All my kiddos are independent and unique.  And they all are SO different and wonderful in their own ways... It's a joy as a parent to love them in this new capacity ~ as adults ~ and to witness magical moments in their lives...

wise words for today~

. . .an old Cherokee told his grandson, "My son, there is a battle between 2 wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies & ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy & truth." The boy thought about it, then asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?" The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed."

[very wise ~ so I appropriated this from a cousin, to share]

just call me grammi...

For those that don't know, our first grandchild is due in early OCT, [the first which will be born to one of our children, and not "love-adopted" into our family].

We are very excited of course for our princess and sir knight ~ they will be fabulous parents, and we will try very hard to be carefully doting grandparents, NOT prone to "over" spoil.!  Still this is the first grandchild on both sides of this new little one's family, so we will need to watch ourselves, because grand babies are just so spoil-able... ;-)

We know "she" will be beautiful ~ but will she have her paternal aunt's auburn hair?  Will she have her grandpa's eye color or mommy's sense of style? [Believe me when I say we won't know for sure on that one for MANY years, when our princess was very young her sense of style included stripes and flowers in the same outfit.!]  Will she love crazy rock music like daddy?  It's sure she will win all our hearts the minute we meet her ~ and we can barely wait!

It's so fun that we now live close to our daughter and her little family at this exiting time!  So far we love living here ~ our new home is amazingly perfect for us ~ and I suspect we will love it even better when the heat of summer fades and we can truly enjoy the outdoors again!  ha ha  This part of AZ has mild winters ~ looking forward to THAT too!  We have a marvelous patio/yard in back that we plan to spend lots of time in!

Welcome to ClanHouse 2011

Our new front door ~decorated~ this mom of a sailor desires to wear her "blue star" colors.  ;-)

lessons of a lifetime ~

When I was growing up my mother worked nights... In fact I can't remember when she didn't work nights. She did it for more than 20 years ~ and I never thought about it much. It was just what mom did.  It was the way she helped dad to provide for the family.  I don't remember hearing her complain at all, but one time I remember when I was in high school she fell asleep driving home and hit a traffic light, in the left turn lane! Fortunately no one else was involved, but I remember that event scared me a LOT.!

A few years ago [ok, more than 13 years ago] I tried working nights for about a month ~ I was so exhausted I couldn't see straight, and I was CRABBY in the extreme, so I gave up on that approach and found a different job ~ after a very long search!  LOL  I found out that working nights was not for ME... but I still didn't appreciate my mom's sacrifice for her family.  I now understand why after momma retired daddy never wanted to be far from her side.  He missed her probably a LOT more than he ever let on all those years, so for the next 25+ years after her retirement, they were rarely separated, even in death.  They did so much together and had a BLAST doing it!

SEVEN years ago hubby started working nights, in a new field for him at the time. He had been back in school for almost 3 years, and we were just so GLAD for him to be working and NOT in school ~ neither of us cared that his new position was on nights... it was "temporary", [or so we thought at the time,] a year, maybe two...  What we didn't realize is that sometimes God [or fate if you prefer] has a different plan for your family, and you don't get your "first choice" in life. At least not after some level of sacrifice. So what started out as a short term foot in the door, turned into what at times felt like a long term "trap" from first one facility to a second one.  Don't get me wrong, he LOVES his job ~ we know that we made the right choice for hubby to work nights all this time ~ but seriously ~ night shift will kill you after you turn 50 and hubby was 50 when he "started" working nights ~ and the last year has felt like 5! [grimace]

Happily I've announce just about everywhere that in just over 2 weeks hubby will start working days for the first time in 7 years [+2 weeks and 3 days]. An eternity! ;-)  But what's a bit more interesting in this story is not how happy this truth makes me, [for I am SURLY as happy as I have every been about this new schedule to our lives], I have been thinking about momma a LOT and what it must have been like for her and daddy while she worked all those years in hospitals as an Aide, nights. I know she SAID she preferred nights... [but then, so did hubby ~ in his case it was something of a brain scam, so that he didn't get crabby ~ I think].  But was it really her preference or was she just doing what thousands of other parents have done during their lives ~ the best they can, and whatever they need to ~ to make a better existance for their family?

I know my respect for my mother has been high nearly all my adult life, but these last few years of going through night shifts with hubby ~ my feelings of admiration for my mother have grown beyond previous bounds.  I think she was stronger than the $6M woman to work nights all those years!

Momma, I know you are watching at times, and at special moments I feel you close ~ so please know that I am grateful you gave me such an amazing example of selflessness to grow up with.  I don't come close to matching you, in any stretch of the imagination ~ but you help me find the strength to do things and be someone I am sure I would never have approached without you ~ to somehow dig a bit deeper and find something I didn't guess was there.

I miss you terribly, but ~ when I do good sometimes, I hear you inside my head cheering me on!  What a WOMAN you are momma!  How you ever survived 20+ years of night shifts all the way to 62+ years, is anyone's guess!  ;-)  It sure make you MY hero, and beyond glad we didn't have to follow in your footsteps for another 13+ years.

I only hope I can take another page from your example and enjoy the next chapter in hubby's and my eternity ~ and our time together!

more passings~

FIL passed away peacefully yesterday.  I am glad I was there, it was a precious and sacred moment to comfort him through the fears he obviously felt, however at the very end he seemed completely ready and he just stepped into the other room to join his sweetheart of 57 years, whom he had missed so desperately the last 6 months.

He joined her 6 months to the day.

in search of comfort...

A Child’s Prayer

 

Heavenly Father, are you really there?

And do you hear and answer ev’ry child’s prayer?

Some say that heaven is far away,

But I feel it close around me as I pray.

Heavenly Father, I remember now

Something that Jesus told disciples long ago:

“Suffer the children to come to me.”

Father, in prayer I’m coming now to thee.

Pray, he is there;
Speak, he is list’ning.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav’n.

Words and music: © 1984 by Janice Kapp Perry. 

This song may be copied for incidental, noncommercial church or home use.